• B.Mus. 2001, Indiana University
• M.Mus. 2003, University of Wisconsin
• D.M.A. 2009, University of Wisconsin

Joined ISU Faculty in 2015

Dr. Eleanor Christman is the Lecturer of Cello and Director of the Preparatory String Program in the School of Performing Arts at Idaho State University, where she teaches applied cello and various music courses. She is also a cellist in the Idaho State Civic Symphony. 

Known for her rich, sensitive melodic lines, Ms. Christman has appeared in recital as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, both on faculty recitals and as a guest artist.  She has held faculty positions at Ripon College, Utah Valley University, the University of Utah Preparatory Division, and Salt Lake Community College. As an orchestral musician she has performed with the Green Bay Symphony, Madison Symphony, Tallahassee Symphony, Choral Arts Philadelphia, and Ballet West.

On baroque cello Ms. Christmas has performed nationally and internationally with such groups as the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, Madison Bach Musicians, Utopia Early Music, Jeune Orchestre Atlantique, and American Baroque Orchestra. As a proponent of new music, she has worked with composers John Harbison, David Ludwig, and Stephen Dembski, whose Suite for Solo Cello she premiered in 2010.

Having recently become a Certified Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analyst, Ms. Christman is pursuing research on the relationships of function and expression and exertion and recovery in musicians. Her research will be part of the book Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analysis: Contemporary Applications, to be published in the fall.

Ms. Christman primary teachers include Irene Sharp, Helga Winold, Emilio Colón, and Uri Vardi. She has also received instruction from Jaap ter Linden, Richard Aaron, Tanya Carey, members of the Audubon, Emerson, and Borodin Quartets, Bonnie Hampton, and Laurence Lesser.