Caleb Polashek

Caleb Hans Polashek leads a varied career in central Texas and beyond as an orchestral, chamber, solo performer and composer. Caleb joined the violin section of the Austin Symphony Orchestra in 2012 and earned tenure with the ensemble soon after. He performs with the Artisan String Quartet, and regularly appears with the ensemble, most recently in Georgetown, San Antonio, and the annual Mason Chamber Music Festival. Credited by Music Dir. Eric McIntyre as offering “a rare combination of technical wizardry and interpretive adventurousness”, Caleb has played the concertos of Barber, Khachaturian, and Tchaikovsky and other works with orchestra and other large ensembles. Recent performances include the violin solo in Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante at the 2019 Mozart Festival Texas. Upcoming solos in 2019 include the monumental Brahms Concerto with the Central Iowa Symphony.

In 2006 Caleb joined the talented studio of renown performer and pedagogue Brian Lewis at the UT Austin, which became the Butler School of Music during his undergrad years. Notable performances included Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen with the University Orchestra and the solos in Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben and Til Eulenspiegel as concertmaster of the University of Texas Symphony Orchestra. He earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees while attending BSOM, in 2010 and 2012 respectively. In addition to solo and orchestral studies, Caleb also worked with the Miro Quartet on chamber music and was a member of a jazz combo, further honing his musical insights and skills in different genres.

Caleb has shared the stage with a variety of alternative groups and performers including Christopher Cross at ACL and Weezer during the SXSW festival. He is featured on acoustic and electric violin on a variety of recordings, recently including the new Conspirare album titled “The Hope of Loving”.