BIOGRAPHY

​Elise Winkler grew up on the western coast of Washington State. From a young age, she was drawn to the piano, and soon found her way to choir and composition. Her works tap into her passions and vulnerabilities, striving to connect audiences through shared experience. She especially loves to work on interdisciplinary projects, believing in the power of collaboration to cultivate creative problem solving and compromise.

​

Elise has worked with many esteemed ensembles, including the Seattle Symphony, Symphony Tacoma, The Juilliard Orchestra, Trio Immersio, Seattle Opera, The Dolphins String Quartet, and the Talea Ensemble, as well as soloists Paul Demers and Efe Baltacigil. Her works have also been premiered at the Curtis Institute of Music's Young Artists' Summer Program, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and Norfolk New Music Festival. She has been awarded the Gena Raps Prize and was selected as a winner of the Juilliard orchestra competition.

​

As a pianist, she has championed contemporary music at large. She has performed as a soloist at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre and as a chamber musician with The NowBeat Project and The Juilliard Orchestra. She has also premiered her own works in Morse Recital Hall at The Juilliard School and Studzinski Recital Hall at Bowdoin College.

​

Elise completed her Bachelor and Masters degrees in Music at The Juilliard School. She studied with Melinda Wagner, David Ludwig, and Valerie Coleman.