Ella Saputra, a freshman at James B. Conant High School in Hoffman Estates IL, currently studies with Desiree Ruhstrat. She began her musical studies at the age of four on violin and more recently added viola as her second instrument. Ella is also a fellow of Chicago Musical Pathways Initiative, a mentorship and scholarship program for underrepresented groups in classical music.
Ella has received top prizes and awards from Sejong Music Competition, Music Festival in Honor of Confucius, the Society of American Musicians, Walgreens Concerto Competition, as well as DePaul Concerto Festival for Young Performers.
Ella made her solo orchestral debut in violin with the MYAC Concert Orchestra as the overall winner of the MYAC junior division of 2017 Walgreens Concerto Competition. In March 2018, she made her solo orchestral debut in viola with Oistrakh Symphony of Chicago as one of the winners of the junior division of DePaul Concerto Festival for Young Performers.
An avid orchestral musician, Ella is a member of Midwest Young Artist Conservatory (MYAC) and the recipient of Rami Solomonov MYAC merit scholarship. She performs with MYAC Symphony orchestras and has served as the co-concertmaster of the Concert orchestra. Her summer studies have included HeifetzPEG and Philadelphia International Music Festival where she has worked with Bela Horvath, Kimberly Fisher, and Marc Rovetti, among others.
