Eleanor "Genni" Blitzer

Eleanor “Genni” Blitzer grew up in Marshfield and Madison, Wisconsin.  She played viola in the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra under Marvin Rabin while in high school and in the University of Wisconsin Orchestra under the baton of Otto Werner Muller. “These conductors taught well!” She says.

Professionally, Eleanor became a pediatrician, though she performed with various orchestras as time allowed. Her family moved to Fort Myers in 1986, where she started her pediatric practice with Patty Miller, joined shortly thereafter by Tom Schiller, the Gulf Coast Symphony’s principal longtime French horn player. Her group eventually merged with Physicians Primary Care, with whom she practiced for what she says were many happy years.  She is now retired.

Eleanor first played viola in the Southwest Florida Symphony. But when that group turned professional, she joined the Gulf Coast Symphony, which was being formed at the time. That was 25 years ago.

Eleanor says she “considers herself privileged to be a part of the Gulf Coast Symphony,” adding that “the audience is also a part of the symphony!”