Cellist Esther Rothwell (formerly Seitz) was brought up in a musical home and fell in love with the cello at the age of 8. Based in Dallas, TX, Esther holds a Section Cello position with the Dallas Opera Orchestra. An accomplished orchestral cellist, Esther won the Minnesota Orchestra’s Rosemary and David Good Fellowship in 2021 and held the position until 2023. She has performed with the Fort Worth Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony, the Des Moines Metro Opera Orchestra, and the Artosphere Festival Orchestra, among others. Esther also performs throughout Dallas-Fort Worth at venues ranging from local churches to the American Airlines Center.

In addition to her orchestral endeavors, Esther is an active chamber musician and has been invited to perform as part of the Basically Beethoven Festival, the Music in the West End Chamber Series in Aspen, CO, University of Arizona’s Guest Artist Recital Series, and Minnesota Orchestra’s Chamber Concert Series, among others. She is also a co-founder of the award-winning Bowery Trio which was formed in 2019. The Trio has won grants from organizations such as Chamber Music America, Finlandia Foundation National, and the Sibelius Fund. They recently released their debut album, This Is Us, and continue to perform both nationally and internationally.

Esther also enjoys a vibrant teaching career. She currently teaches privately in the Dallas area and serves as an Adjunct Cello Faculty at Dallas College. She was a teaching assistant to Julia Lichten at the Meadowmount School of Music in 2019, and since then has been invited to give masterclasses, lectures, and serve as faculty for institutions such as the University of Arizona,  International Cello Institute, BridgeMusik, and Music Academy of Kansas City.

Esther is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Her major teachers include Julia Lichten, Michael Mermagen, Mark Gibbs, and Carter Enyeart. Esther has worked alongside artists such as Lynn Harrell, Hans Jørgen Jensen, David Geber, and Josephine Knight through chamber coachings, festivals, and masterclasses.