Lindsey Strand-Polyak holds a PhD in Musicology and a Master of Music in Violin Performance from UCLA, and is a regularly-performing Baroque concert artist on violin and viola, and an inspirational music-education leader. She is the 2026 winner of Early Music America’s award for excellence in music education and outreach, the Laurette Goldberg Award.

Strand-Polyak is a passionate educator and arts advocate, who has worked with organizations including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Young Musicians Foundation, Education through Music—Los Angeles, Elemental Music Santa Monica, and the UCLA Mentor Outreach Program. In two decades in education and outreach, she has taught in nearly every corner of Southern California, witnessing the immense impact that arts education makes across the economic spectrum.

Lindsey believes that historical performance and early music should be accessible to everyone, and young people can be energized to hone their research skills and depth of understanding and enjoyment of the history and performance of Western classical music through Baroque music workshops, side-by-side performances and clinics at all ages. In 2016, Strand-Polyak co-founded the community baroque orchestra Los Angeles Baroque (LAB), made up of dedicated musicians aged 16 to 81—amateur, student, and current- and post-professional—and has grown the organization to include its flagship “Big Band” Baroque Orchestra of over 30 players of all levels of musical ability, a chamber music outreach program for Los Angeles Public Library’s “L.A. Made” series, two Consort Clubs serving SoCal’s viol players, and more.

Since 2022-23 she has served as the Director of the San Francisco Early Music Society’s annual week-long Baroque Workshop which takes place every summer in the Bay Area of California. She added the role of Education Program Director for the Baroque Music Festival, Corona del Mar’s new educational outreach initiative to her pedagogical resumé in fall 2024. The BMF’s program is made possible thanks to the generosity of donors to the Burton Karson Music Education Fund, since summer 2024, inspired by the Festival’s founder and Artistic Director Emeritus, Dr. Burton Karson.

In 2024-25, between Baroque performance commitments with Bach Collegium San Diego, Early Music Seattle, and the Baroque Music Festival, Corona del Mar, among others, Dr. Strand-Polyak led workshops for Early Music Seattle’s New Baroque Orchestra, Bitterroot Baroque, and Baroque Music Montana. In 2025-26 she took on a new role as Artistic and Executive Director of Pacific NorthWest’s long-running early music chamber series Musique du Jour Presents. Education work for BMF CdM’s Burton Karson Music Education program also began in 2025-26 with interactive “Coloring with Corelli” events in Corona del Mar, Mission Valley, and at Santiago Canyon College, Orange; and a Baroque “101” Symposium at the 46th Annual Baroque Music Festival in June 2026. The program continues in 2026-27 with a 2-day teaching residency at Santiago Canyon College and further activities to be announced.

In Southern California and beyond, Strand-Polyak’s lectures and residencies for college students have included: Michigan State University, University of Southern California, University of Oregon, Northwestern State University of Louisiana, University of Richmond—Virginia, Sacramento State University, Montana State University, University of the Pacific, and California State University—San Bernardino.