Ingrid Morken, Violin
Way up high in the Minnesota north, just 70 miles from the Canadian border, is Thief River Falls (population about 8,700) where Ingrid Morken grew up. As you can imagine, it’s surrounded by rivers, wildlife and woodlands—and snow, so much snow. Plus, really great schools! Ingrid’s father was a musician and music teacher, primarily of choir and piano.
“We always had classical music playing in the house,” Ingrid says. “I started playing piano with my dad giving me lessons. When I heard violin I just fell in love with it; it has such a beautiful, expressive sound and the instrument is visually beautiful too.” Ingrid played violin through middle school and high school, and her dad accompanied with her in recitals. Her sister played flute and her brother string bass. “We’d all played together as a family and I really loved that.”
Going to Gustavus Adolphus College (named for a king of Sweden) in St. Peter, Minnesota, Ingrid realized that she loved violin, but it wasn’t going to be her career. Instead, she played in the college orchestra but got a degree in Environmental Studies. And with that, moved to Ft. Bragg California to work with the US Forest Service and AmeriCorps watershed stewards project. (No, a watershed is not a shed to store water. It’s an area of land that channels rainfall and snowmelt into a lake, river or ocean.) And she played in the Symphony of the Redwoods (what an evocative name for an orchestra!) while there. And then on to UC Berkeley for a Masters degree in Landscape Architecture.
Ingrid joined Prometheus in 2005 for a few years while she lived in the East Bay. But when she moved away temporarily, we lost her for almost 15 years. Now she’s back!! Working as a landscape architect on ecological restoration projects. “I really enjoy the community feeling of Prometheus, along with the challenging repertoire. And, playing also makes me feel connected with my Dad, who passed away a few years ago.” Ingrid’s now fully settled in the snow-less East Bay—for good we hope!
