Flossmoor Native, Violinist Returns For Fundraiser Concert

FLOSSMOOR, IL — They say you can’t go home again, but they would be wrong. Flossmoor native and violist Katelyn Hoag, along with her husband Bram Margoles, returns to Flossmoor on July 26 to perform a fundraising concert for the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra.

Dialogues In Sound: Music for Violin & Viola Duo will feature Hoag and Margoles performing works by Mozart, Augusta Read Thomas, Scott Joplin and others. The concert takes place July 26 at 3 p.m. at the Flossmoor Community Church, located at 2218 Hutchinson Road in Flossmoor. Tickets are $30 and are available at IPOmusic.org or by calling the IPO Box Office at 708-481-7774.

“The IPO is one of the reasons why the music and arts culture is so strong in the Chicago Southland,” beams Hoag, who grew up around IPO. “As one of many students who have been profoundly impacted over the years by IPO’s performances and educational initiatives, I couldn’t be happier to be performing on behalf of this organization. It will also be meaningful to me to give back to the awesome community in which I was raised.”

Based in Birmingham, Alabama, Hoag is a violist and violin/viola teacher, Principal Violist of Des Moines Metro Opera and a Section Violist of the Huntsville, Chattanooga, and Mobile Symphony Orchestras. Katelyn also performs regularly as a substitute with the Alabama and Nashville Symphonies and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. Previously, she was a viola fellow in The Orchestra Now in New York, where she performed at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and Jazz at Lincoln Center. She was formerly Principal Violist of the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra and Section Violist of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra and has performed with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Katelyn has performed at Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and Japan’s Pacific Music Festival and was a viola fellow at Aspen Music Festival and School.

Originally from the south suburbs of Chicago, Katelyn began playing the viola in her public school’s orchestra program at age nine. She participated in Illinois’ All-State and District Orchestra Festivals in high school (2009-2012) where she was selected for both state and district festivals all four years. She also performed in IPO’s Rising Stars recital program in spring 2012. She earned her Master of Music and Performer Diploma in Viola Performance at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, and her Bachelor of Music in Viola Performance and Music Education at University of Michigan. While her primary viola teachers were Stephen Wyrczynski, Atar Arad, and Yizhak Schotten, her love for music came via some of her earliest instructors that were ingrained in IPO. Fred Kuester, IPO Principal Bassis was her first orchestra teacher in 4th grade Flossmoor School District 161. IPO violinist Todd Matthews was her first private lesson teacher, and Dr. Michael Rogers, Past IPO Board president, served as her Homewood-Flossmoor High School District 233 Orchestra Director and teacher from 2009-2012.

Bram Margoles has been a member of the Alabama Symphony’s first violin section since 2021. Bram is also currently a member of the Des Moines Metro Opera Orchestra and has appeared as a substitute player in the Nashville Symphony and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.