Mrs. Arlette Aslanian-Townsend

Violin, Viola Teacher

Arlette Aslanian-Townsend

SAA Member

Arlette Aslanian-Townsend is currently Concertmaster of the Stratus Chamber Orchestra (formerly the Musica Sacra Chamber Orchestra). Since joining this ensemble in the winter of 1999, Mrs. Townsend has performed in Italy, England, Scotland, Austria, Hungary and the Czech Republic and is a regularly featured soloist. Mrs. Townsend is also an extremely active freelance violinist and has played with world-famous artists Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and Canadian singer/songwriter k.d. lang. She has also performed with the Boulder Philharmonic, Boulder Sinfonia, Mercury Ensemble, Fort Collins Symphony, Denver Opera Company, St. Mary’s Chamber Orchestra, Littleton Symphony, Centennial Philharmonic, MahlerFest Orchestra, Longmont Symphony and countless other ensembles.

Besides her numerous performing engagements, Mrs. Townsend maintains a large private violin and viola teaching studio in Denver, and is a long-time facility member of Denver Talent Education (DTE). Previously, she worked for 10 years with Boulder Suzuki Strings and was the Musical Director at Cherry Creek High School, where she coached quartets and conducted its two large orchestras. In 1998 to 2000, she served as President of the Suzuki Association of Colorado. In 2012 she was the coordinator of the Suzuki Youth Orchestra of the Americas at the SAA conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mrs. Townsend has judged numerous competitions and has been hired as a guest clinician in Chicago, Santa Fe, Salt Lake City, Austin, Flagstaff, Rapid City, Denver, Boulder and Lafayette.

In 1997, Mrs. Townsend received her Master’s of Music degree in Suzuki Pedagogy and Performance from the University of Denver and her Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Colorado in 1992. Her primary teachers have been internationally-renowned Harold Wippler, James Maurer, and William Starr. She has also studied with Brian Lewis, Yumi Hwang-Williams, Basil Vendryes, Jurgen de Lemos, Ozzie Lehnert, Sally O’Reilly, Dinos Constantinides, and Kevork Mardirossian.

In addition to music, Mrs. Townsend’s passions include traveling, gourmet cooking and hosting parties.