Anne McKee, Violin
Anne McKee is a violinist and Suzuki instructor based in central Maine. She is on faculty at the Bay Chamber Music School and the Pineland Suzuki School, where she is co-director of Capital Strings, an advanced student ensemble. In addition to her teaching, she is an active performer around New England as a member of the Bangor Symphony, Colby Symphony, Apollo Ensemble, Horizon Ensemble, and as guest concertmaster of the Augusta Symphony. She is especially passionate about chamber music and enjoys putting together performances with colleagues between Maine and Boston.
Anne has received Suzuki training from Terry Durbin, Laurie Scott, Ann Montzka-Smelser, and Mark Mutter, and string pedagogy training from Rictor Noren. Her teaching is also heavily informed by her own experience as a Maine Suzuki kid. She started violin lessons at age 4 with Betsy Kobayashi (NESI faculty member), visited Suzuki world conventions in Italy and Australia with her family, and attended NESI for about 10 years! She can speak first-hand to the magic of the NESI experience and has fond memories of scootering from class to class, inspiring and wacky group classes, contra-dancing, and making musical friends from all over the country.
Anne holds a Master of Music from the Boston Conservatory and a Bachelor of Arts from Bowdoin College. In addition to long-term study with Katie Lansdale, Lydia Forbes, Eva Gruesser, and Betsy Kobayashi, Anne has taken masterclasses with Sergiu Schwartz, Alexi Kenney, Joseph Lin, and Grigory Kalinovsky, as well as members of the Ying, Jupiter, Lydian, and Ariel Quartets. Some of her musical accolades include first prize in Midcoast Symphony Orchestra's Concerto Competition, second prize at Peter E. Tannenwald Young Artist Competition, and finalist in Boston Conservatory's all-school concerto competition. She has enjoyed attending the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Music From Salem, the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, the Promisek Bach+ Workshop, and the Fivesparks Music Festival. She looks forward to performing at the International Portoheli Festival in Greece this summer!
Outside of music, Anne enjoys running marathons, spending time with her cat, cross-country skiing, and watching Studio Ghibli movies.