Jean Hatmaker is the cellist and founding member of the Kontras Quartet, internationally-acclaimed quartet based in Chicago, and current artists-in-residence at Western Michigan University. She holds faculty positions at Elmhurst College, Lake Forest College, and Oak Park String Academy, and is an active member and former president of Chicago Cello Society. She received her Bachelors and Masters degrees in cello performance from Indiana University, where she also studied string instrument making, voice, and began her illustrious (if not particularly swan-like) career as an amateur ballerina.