About Holly

It was during my first week of kindergarten that I decided I wanted to be a professional violinist. An older student came into my elementary music class to demonstrate, and from that moment I was hooked. It was the look of the instrument that first caught my eye, as well as the gracefulness of the movement between the instrument, the body, and the bow. The sound was already familiar from my grandfather’s CD and record collection, but it was more brilliant in person.

My first professional setback came shortly after that special moment when I went home and asked my mom for violin lessons and was met with rejection. My mother chalked the request up to the feeble and inconsistent decisions of a five-year-old. It wasn’t until I continued to ask that my mother realized that I was serious. The moment I first held my 1/16th-size violin, I fell in love.

In high school, I was given a unique opportunity by my violin teacher as an extra challenge: a student of my very own. I was put in contact with an upper elementary school student to give lessons once a week for $10. This opportunity opened a new passion that grew into a small studio of 7 students by the time I graduated from High School.

I graduated from CU Boulder in May of 2021 with a dual degree in Violin Performance and Music Education. Following graduation, I continued to expand my private studio, ran four after-school orchestras in Douglas County, was a long-term sub at Silver Creek High School, and then landed the position of orchestra director at Brentwood Middle School for the 2022-23 school year. CO.

Aside from teaching, I serve as Associate Principal Second Violin for the Longmont Symphony Orchestra, Principal Second for the Boulder Opera Company’s production of Il Trovatore, performed several wedding events through 5280 String Quartet, and will be a part of MahlerFest XXXVI.

I am currently based in the Erie area offering services of event performances as well as private violin lessons. See the Lessons tab for more information such as rates, policy, and helpful tips. For upcoming events, check out the Performances tab.