Jennifer Elowitch started PCMF in 1994 (with co-founder and pianist Dena Levine) and also served as Executive Director from 2004 through 2014. Over the 25 years of Jenny’s tenure, PCMF evolved into one of the premier chamber music events in New England and a cornerstone of Portland’s vibrant arts community. In 2018, violist Melissa Reardon was appointed her successor as Artistic Director.​

Violinist and Portland native Jennifer Elowitch is Founder and Artistic Director Emerita of the Portland Chamber Music Festival and Director of Music at Walnut Hill School for the Arts in MA, where she was the recipient of a 2016 E.E. Ford Faculty Award for Exceptional Merit. A noted chamber musician, she has appeared as a guest artist with the Franciscan and Fidelio Quartets, the Winsor and Andover Chamber Music Series, the Williamstown and Walden Chamber Players, and the Mark Morris Dance Group. Ms. Elowitch has also performed with well-known contemporary ensembles including Boston Musica Viva, Collage New Music, and the Fromm Players at Harvard. With PCMF, she has appeared on WGBH radio in Boston, NPR’s Performance Today, and at the Harvard Musical Association.
 
She is the Assistant Principal Second Violinist of the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, has performed often with the Boston Symphony, and was a longtime member of the Emmanuel Chamber Orchestra, with whom she toured Europe. In addition to her work at Walnut Hill, she has served on the faculties of the Longy School of Music, the New England Conservatory Preparatory School, and the University of New Hampshire. She has also presented workshops and masterclasses as a guest at The Boston Conservatory, Community Musicworks in Providence, New England Conservatory, The Curtis Institute, and Lawrence University (WI) and recently served as a guest teacher at the Yehudi Menuhin School in the UK.

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