Amanda was fascinated with the violin at the age of 4 when she began lessons. She is in a family of musicians and her Dad is a band teacher in Troy Schools. One fond memory is the year her family formed a classical ensemble for Christmas at church. She took group classes at Suzuki Royal Oak and studied privately with Claire Charboneau Murphy and Eunja Kim in grade school. In high school, she started teaching private lessons to elementary and middle school, currently teaching one of those students. She had the opportunity to play in Oakland Youth Orchestra, Civic Youth Ensembles, and solo “Schindler’s List” at Western University while attending Troy High School. In college, she continued taking private lessons and took a master class in which she improved in solo and string quartet performance. Amanda played in the Chamber Orchestra of Oakland University under the direction of Alan MacNair.

 

She loves polishing violin concertos in her free time and has recently played the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto for a virtual Juilliard Competition, in which she placed in the top 10. Amanda has served on the church worship team, playing the violin by ear, since Middle School. She currently plays at Woodside Royal Oak Church. She also serves in the kids ministry, sometimes leading songs. Amanda got her BSN at Oakland University and started as a nurse in the hospital at the onset of the COVID pandemic. She now works at a home in Clarkston as a private nurse for a couple clients with cerebral palsy. They frequently receive music therapy. Sometimes she plays electro-pop violin with the group, NuClassica, for weddings and other events. Amanda is so thankful to have the opportunity to play as Concert Master in the Metro Symphony Orchestra for the 2022-2023 seasons, a beautiful way to play classical music, to the glory of God!