Nancy Steltmann
Richard & Helen DeVos Chair
Nancy Steltmann has been Principal Cello of the Grand Rapids Symphony since 1990. She came to the orchestra from New York City in 1980 as Assistant Principal when Semyon Bychkov was music director. She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Juilliard School. A native of Albany, New York, Ms. Steltmann studied at the Schenectady Conservatory with Arthur Catricala prior to attending Juilliard. At Juilliard, she studied cello with Leonard Rose and Harvey Shapiro, chamber music with Felix Galimir and the Juilliard Quartet, and played under Leon Barzin in the National Orchestral Association. Upon graduating, she received the William Henderson Prize in Cello. She also studied with Bernard Greenhouse.
Ms. Steltmann has performed with Chicago Opera Theater, Chicago Lyric Opera, Lake George Opera, Spoleto Festival of the Two Worlds in Italy with conductor Thomas Shippers, the Chicago City Ballet, Ruth Page Ballet, New York City Ballet and the Detroit Symphony. She has also worked as principal cellist of the Horizon Concerts Chamber Orchestra in New York City, and with the Elgin Symphony under Margaret Hillis. During its 2006-2007 season, she performed with the Michigan Opera Theater in Detroit.
In recital, Ms. Steltmann has performed at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Hope College, Grand Valley State University, the Dame Myra Hess Series in Chicago and the Chamber Music Festival of Saugatuck. In collaboration with pianist Mary Louise Vetrano, Steltmann was featured on the Chamber Music Series in Troy, New York’s historic Music Hall in 2003. They released a solo CD titled Music from a Gentler Time in 2004. During 2006, she performed with pianist Jonathan Feldman, head of the Collaborative Piano Department at the Juilliard School, as part of Grand Rapids Central Reformed Church’s “Barker Series.” She has appeared seven times as soloist with the Grand Rapids Symphony, having performed Tchaikovsky’s Roccoco Variations, Haydn’s D Major Concerto, and David Ott’s Concerto for Two Cellos with Carter Brey, principal cellist with the New York Philharmonic, among other major works. In the summer of 2005, she was featured in two performances of Faure’s Elegy and Davidoff’s At the Fountain, one performance broadcast live on Blue Lake Public Radio. Most recently, Ms. Steltmann performed the Elgar Cello Concerto with the orchestra in the fall of 2007.