World Premiere: The Maud Powell Project – Megan Healy, violin

Denver-based violinist Megan Healy is an active pedagogue, recitalist, and performer of orchestral and chamber music. Megan enjoys a multifaceted career as a freelance performing artist and teacher. Upcoming projects include an album of five new works for solo violin written by American composers Lauren Bernofsky, Elisabeth Blair, Stephanie Ann Boyd, Jessica Meyer, and Hilary Purrington, inspired by and dedicated to Maud Powell. These works will be performed in a variety of contexts, including a recital tour, interdisciplinary performances, educational and outreach programs. Karen Shaffer, President of the Maud Powell Society, writes: “Megan Healy’s visionary project carries forward the vital legacy of the American violinist Maud Powell (1867-1920), who was a powerful advocate for women composers and violinists at a time when the musical genius of women was commonly suppressed. The dedication to Maud Powell of solo violin works by these five women composers is a vibrant testament to Maud Powell’s inspiring life-long service to the violin, music and humanity and her commitment to opening opportunities for women to fulfill their artistic dreams.” Additional research projects include presentations on teaching beginning adult violin students and special needs populations.

Megan currently performs with the Boulder Philharmonic, Boulder Chamber Orchestra, Fort Collins Symphony, Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra, Steamboat Springs Symphony Orchestra, and the Colorado Pops Orchestra, and has held positions with the Kalamazoo, Southwest Michigan, Southeast Iowa, and Holland (MI) symphony orchestras. Recent special engagements have included a performance as guest soloist with the Elgin (IL) Youth Symphony, interdisciplinary collaborations with Life/Art Dance Ensemble, and the live premiere of Julián Brijaldo’s Atravesa’o for violin and delay pedal at the Society of Composers International conference.

Megan is a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Violin Performance at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she serves as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. Megan is a student of Károly Schranz and Harumi Rhodes, the former and current second violinists in the world-renowned Takács quartet. Megan also holds Master of Music and Artist Diploma degrees from Western Michigan University, where she served as graduate teaching assistant to Professor Renata Artman Knific, as well as a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance from the University of Iowa under the tutelage of Dr. Scott Conklin. She has studied viola performance with Professor Igor Fedotov and Dr. Megan Gray.