Melanie Kupchynsky received her musical training on the East Coast. Born in New Jersey, she began violin lessons at the age of four with her father Jerry Kupchynsky. She went on to study first with Samuel Applebaum and then with Eric Rosenblith at the New England Conservatory of Music, where she received both bachelor and master’s degrees with honors and distinction. In 1984 and 1985, she was a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center.
While living in Boston, Kupchynsky performed with numerous musical organizations, including the Boston Pops; Boston Symphony Orchestra; Opera Company of Boston; Hartford Symphony Orchestra; and Springfield (MA) Symphony Orchestra, where she was principal second violin. In 1988, she became a member of the first violin section of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. At the invitation of eighth music director Sir Georg Solti, Kupchynsky joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1989, and after 37 years of service, she retired in 2026.
Melanie Kupchynsky and her husband Edward Harrison have three children: Nicholas and twins Laura and Gregory. Along with Joanne Lipman, she coauthored Strings Attached: One Tough Teacher and the Gift of Great Expectations, a book about her father and his legacy. It was published by Hyperion in 2013.
