Bartholomew Shields

Bartholomew Fortino Shields is an Italian-American violinist, who is currently based in Rome, Italy. Throughout high school he studied with Sally Thomas, of the Juilliard School in New York City. He completed a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as a scholarship recipient, where he studied under Soh-Hyun Park Altino, former teaching assistant to Donald Weilerstein.  In May 2022, Bartholomew completed his Master of Music degree in Violin Performance at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where he was a scholarship recipient of the Artistic Excellence Award, studying under Judith Ingolfsson. He has been a recipient of numerous awards from the Reading Musical Foundation, PYO Music Institute, Allentown Symphony, Reading Symphony, Beethoven Club of Memphis, Perlman Piano Trio and the Garth Newel Music Center, and has performed at Bowdoin International, Meadowmount School of Music, Brevard Music Center, Philadelphia International and the MasterWorks Festival.

Mr. Fortino Shields has a wide range of teaching experience with beginners, intermediate, to very advanced students who have come from Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, China, Macao, Canada, Jordan, Africa, and all throughout the United States. He was a teaching assistant at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University pre-college program from 2020 – 2021. He was also featured on Rob Landes’ Youtube channel. Mr. Fortino Shields taught at the Reading Symphony Junior String Orchestra Academy in Reading, Pennsylvania in 2022 and taught at Vilacello String and Piano Festival in Reading and Philadelphia PA this past summer. He currently has a strong private violin studio and is a Teaching Artist with Play on Philly. 

Bartholomew received in depth pedagogical study in his Bachelor’s degree with Eugene Purdue at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and in his Master’s degree with Rebecca Henry at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. Bartholomew also gained a lot of experience teaching from attending Meadowmount School of Music, observing masterclasses by Joseph Silverstein, Gerardo Ribeiro, and William van der Sloot. Additionally, his time studying and performing at international music festivals, such as Bowdoin International, Brevard Music Center, MasterWorks Festival, and Philadelphia International contributed to his teaching experience.