Cheryl Trace has been a member of the Toledo Symphony, and a regular member of the Toledo Symphony String Quartet since 1991. Educated at Butler University, she earned her Bachelor of Music in Music Education and Master of Music in Violin Performance. During that time she performed with the Indianapolis Opera Company and the Arriaga String Quartet, in residence at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. She also spent one summer singing and playing fiddle at the King’s Island amusement park.

From 1981-91 she was a member of the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, the Puerto Rico String Quartet, the Pops Orchestra and Concerto Chamber Players. She also held a teaching position at the Conservatory String Program (founded by Pablo Casals), teaching young violinists and co-directing the summer music programs. She also worked in a recording studio, playing jingles for commercials and albums for vocal pop artists. After leaving Puerto Rico, had positions with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and Opera Company, Des Moines Metro Opera Company, and was a founding member of Apollo’s Fire (the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra).

Her musical projects/tours have taken her to places such as: Boston, Washington D.C., Aspen, Spain, New Zealand, Italy, the UK, and Germany, among others. She has been the recipient of three Mellon foundation grants, each one designed to bring free performances to the general public.

Ms. Trace teaches both traditional violin lessons and Suzuki Method. Her Suzuki training includes the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Capitol University, and Eastern Michigan University.  In 1995 she co-founded the Toledo Suzuki Strings ensemble with students ages 4-18yrs. She also teaches Early Childhood Music classes with the Musically Me program as an outreach program to preschoolers in the TPS Head Start Program. She maintains an active teaching studio, and is currently on faculty at the Toledo Symphony School of Music, teaching private and group classes to students ages 4-60+.