Victoria Gabrielsen (she/her) has been playing violin since she was 10 years old. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Victoria’s love of music and performing started when she was 3 years old, when her grandmother took her to see her first musical. Victoria grew up in New Berlin, Wisconsin, where she had the most passionate and loving orchestra teachers. She is beyond grateful for the wisdom and teachings of her elementary orchestra teacher, Elizabeth Deussen, and her high school teachers, Kay Black and Patricia Anders, as their combined pedagogies inspired Victoria to pursue a career in teaching music. They also helped her to start teaching violin and viola lessons to fellow students and members of the community throughout high school. 

Victoria’s music education studies began in 2011 at Northern Michigan University, where she was a recipient of the Harden Scholarship, a four-year full scholarship. Victoria studied strings technique and conducting under Dr. Barbara Rhyneer, and she taught with various beginner strings programs and youth orchestras in the Marquette area. She received her Bachelors in Music Education in 2015, with honors from both the Music and Education Departments at NMU. 

In late 2016, the very same day that the Cubs won the World Series, Victoria officially moved to Chicago, which had been a dream of hers since she was a child. Since then, Victoria has taught with many after-school and in-school orchestral and general music programs throughout the city. In addition to teaching violin and viola at LYRIQ Music School, she is currently on the Teaching Team and Marketing/Finance Team of the Human Values Collective, a nonprofit organization dedicated to uplifting humanity through radical education, teacher training, community mentorship, and action in the pursuit of liberation for all people. Victoria lives with her fiancée, Ana, and their cat named Lady Katherine, or Kitty for short. Victoria’s hobbies include reading, hiking, learning mandolin, playing video games, and attending as many live concerts as possible, spanning multiple genres.