Teacher Profile: Elena Varon

About Elena Varon

A native of Rochester, NY, Elena Varon began her journey on the horn at age 10. Throughout the years, she has performed music in genres ranging from classical to film to contemporary. In July 2018, Varon traveled to Cesena, Italy, to participate in the soundSCAPE International New Music Festival, where she collaborated with composers and premiered exciting new works. Varon has played with the Empire Film and Media Ensemble, where she has contributed to projects such as recording the score to Star Trek Continues, presenting live to-picture concerts in collaboration with filmmakers from around the area, and presenting the music of Bernard Herrmann in the show. Additionally, Varon debuted in the summer of 2019 at the Ohio Light Opera. As principal horn, she played for titles such as Into the Woods, South Pacific, and The Pirates of Penzance. Furthermore, she contributed to the American premieres of The Devil’s Rider and Perchance to Dream. In the summer of 2022, she traveled to Colorado Springs as a horn fellow at the Colorado College Summer Music Festival. She performed five weeks of opera and classical works at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. She is currently auditioning for service bands and orchestras in the DC area and teaching.

As a teacher, she believes in using the individuality of each student’s personality and strengths to grow the student’s technique and bring out the beauty in each student’s music-making. She wants to create an environment open to curiosity and experimentation to inspire and motivate students to find their musicality.

Elena Varon has been awarded the Howard Hanson Scholarship from the Eastman School of Music, the Three Arts Scholarship for female musicians in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Semper Fidelis Music Award from the United States Marines. She holds a Master’s degree in horn performance from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati (MM ’23), where she studied with Denise Tryon. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music (BM ’21), where she worked with W. Peter Kurau and Maura McCune Corvington.

In her free time, Elena enjoys working on her Etsy business, making art, playing with her cat Bruce, hiking, and watching TV shows and movies.