Biography

Violinist Tobias Elser is a versatile performer and educator, equally at home on the concert stage and in the teaching studio. A founding member of the Dior Quartet, he has appeared internationally as both chamber musician and orchestral violinist. With the quartet, he served as Quartet-in-Residence at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music from 2021–2024, performed at the Banff International String Quartet Festival, Bravo! Vail, and the Mostly Modern Festivals in both New York and the Netherlands, and earned top prizes at the Concert Artists Guild Competition, the Chesapeake Chamber Music Competition, and the Plowman National Chamber Competition.

Elser has also appeared with orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, and Firelands Symphony, and has been featured at festivals such as Madeline Island, Wintergreen, Napa Valley, and Colorado College. A dedicated teacher, he has worked with students through Infiniti Strings and Wizz Kidz in Toronto, as well as outreach programs with the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic. He holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory (B.M.) and Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music (M.M.), and was most recently a Rebanks Fellow at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto.