Meet Robbie Herbst, violinist

Meet Robbie Herbst, violinist with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra.

The violin wasn’t Robbie Herbst’s first choice when asked what instrument he wanted to play as child.

“At the New Orleans Airport, there is a big mural depicting musicians playing different instruments. When I was five, my mom told me I could pick any one of them to take lessons on. I chose the flute, but I was too young to play a wind instrument, and my second choice was the violin!” he said.

That second choice has paid off well for Robbie, who was recently named Assistant Principal Second Violin. He holds degrees from Dartmouth College and the University of Colorado at Boulder. His principal teachers include Claude Sim, Sally O’Reilly, and Charles Wetherbee. In addition to the ESO, Robbie is a member of the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra and the West Michigan Symphony, and is an alumnus of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.

“The ESO is a tremendous group and plays a really important role bringing high-caliber music to the Chicago suburbs. I was and am so excited to join the group in the second violins!” Robbie said.

What’s his favorite piece of music to play?

“It's hard to beat playing a Mahler symphony,” he said. ”No composer puts the orchestra to work quite like Mahler does.” 

Off the stage, Robbie is a dedicated teacher and educator, both in violin and in writing. His fiction has won awards and been published in lauded journals such as Gulf Coast and CRAFT Literary. He also enjoys rock climbing and film photography.