Nathan Cole, violin, plays in the first violin section of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and will serve again as Artistic Director of these concerts this summer. He has won numerous honors including a top prize at the International Violin Competition of Sion-Valais, and captured the special prize for best performance of the commissioned work at that competition. He received a Bachelor of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Pamela Frank, Felix Galimir, Ida Kavafian and Jaime Laredo. He is a on the violin faculty at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. In addition, he is a coach for the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the Chicago Youth Symphony. His chamber music appearances have included the Marlboro Music Festival, and national tours as part of Music From Marlboro. For the last four summers, he has performed and taught at the Mimir Festival in Fort Worth, Texas.