Meet the Musicians: Elisa Barston

By Leilani Polk

Principal Second Violin Elisa Barston says one of the most rewarding experiences of her life (“and sadly something you can only do once”) was being a kidney donor. The recipient was a 14-year-old named Luke with advanced kidney disease. Though the recovery was painful, she says, “it only took six weeks and then I was back to doing everything normally again.”  

She’s still close to Luke and his family; nearly 11 years later, he’s a violist living in London and playing with the London Symphony and London Philharmonic orchestras, among others. “He’s in demand over there! Sometimes, I’m jealous of my other kidney cavorting around London,” she laughs. “But it’s awesome to see him doing so well and to be healthy, it’s incredible.” 

A native of the Chicago area whose mother was a cellist, Elisa started on violin at 3 and says she never considered doing anything else. The instrument was at the center of her life, and she chose colleges to go to based on specific pedagogues who taught at them: for her undergraduate degree, with Robert Lipsett at University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music; and for her master’s, with Josef Gingold at Indiana University. “I got so much from both and all these years later, Robert is one of my dearest friends.” 

After a brief foray into academia (Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola at Washington State University in Pullman), she went on her first-ever orchestra audition with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra on the recommendation of a fellow musician she’d met while performing at a music festival, and won. Being a section violinist was a revelation. She left to spend a year with The Cleveland Orchestra before she returned to St. Louis to audition for the Associate Concertmaster position. She was surprised and delighted to learn she won. So she returned to St. Louis and remained there for a decade. “Once I was in the orchestra world, I knew I wanted a leadership position,” she says. “So the Associate Concertmaster position was perfect. I loved it.” She ultimately moved to Seattle when her husband, who was in medicine, was offered an amazing job opportunity here, but admits it was difficult for her to resign. As luck would have it, the Seattle Symphony’s Principal Second seat was open. After a season playing as Acting Principal, she auditioned and won the job, which she started in the 2006/2007 season. She’s held the position ever since.  

Outside the Symphony, she performs as a soloist with various community orchestras (including the Bellingham Symphony), and in chamber programs, especially when she can play with her cellist sister, Amy Barston; every summer they unite for Concerts in the Barn on the Olympic Peninsula. 

Outside of performing, she enjoys baking and cooking with her daughter, cracking open books of her mom’s and grandmom’s old recipes (“To see their handwriting and the old beaten-up recipes from overuse, I always really feel like I connect so beautifully with my past.”), exploring Seattle’s eclectic neighborhoods and natural wonders, and being a self-proclaimed crazy cat lady.  

Of course, she’s a big advocate of being a living donor and has been contemplating doing it again. “Until you’re 60 years old, you can be a liver donor,” she said. “If it’s something that you can do, the risk is pretty darn low and you can save somebody’s life.”