Since her solo orchestral debut at age 15 with the Amarillo Symphony, Ilana Setapen has been flourishing as a violinist with a powerful and original voice. She is the newly appointed Associate Concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and the Assistant Concertmaster of the Grant Park Festival Orchestra in Chicago.

Ms. Setapen has won top prizes in many competitions, such as the Irving M. Klein International String Competition, the Pasadena Showcase Competition, the Kingsville International Competition and the Amarillo Young Performers Competition. At the age of 21, she became concertmaster of the Riverside County Philharmonic in Los Angeles. She has also been concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra, the Colburn Orchestra, the American Youth Symphony, the National Repertory Orchestra, and the USC Thornton Symphony.

Solo appearances have been with the Milwaukee Symphony, the Riverside Philharmonic, the Pasadena Pops, the American Youth Symphony, the Idaho Falls Symphony, the National Repertory Orchestra, and the Amarillo Symphony, among others. She has participated in numerous festivals such as the New York String Seminar, Aspen Music Festival, ENCORE School for Strings, and the National Repertory Orchestra. Also an avid chamber musician, she was for two years the first violinist of the award-winning Calla Quartet in New York. Solo and chamber music performances have brought her abroad to France, Brazil, Holland, England, Monaco, and Italy. She has also performed in Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, and Disney Hall.

Ms. Setapen grew up in Amarillo, Texas. She studied with Robert Lipsett both at the University of Southern California and at the Colburn Conservatory. She received her Master of Music Degree from the Juilliard School as a student of Donald Weilerstein and Ronald Copes. She performs on a 1624 Brothers Amati violin on loan from Frank Almond.