Biography

Jeff Brannen has been a member of the KSO since 1997. He is also principal second violin of the Symphony of the Mountains and a violinist and sometimes violist with the Oak Ridge Symphony.

Jeff’s teachers include Eliot Chapo at Florida State University, Alan Bodman at the University of Akron, and Mark Zelmanovich at the University of Tennessee. While studying at UT, Jeff was the winner of the School of Music’s concerto competition. Jeff also has training playing the oboe, percussion, timpani and bass guitar.

Jeff started playing the violin at age eight in his home town of Harvard, Massachusetts. While still in elementary school, Jeff played in the high school string ensemble and by the sixth grade, had joined The New England Youth Ensemble – a collegiate touring chamber orchestra based at Atlantic Union College in Lancaster, Mass. As a member of that ensemble, he participated in performances all over New England, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, and Los Angeles. As principal second violin of the Greater Boston Youth Symphony, his performances included a tour of Japan with conductor Eiji Oue.