Bio
Violinist Anna Kelleher completed her Masters Degree at the University of Maryland School of Music in 2025 where she studied with Dr. James Stern of the Stern/Andrist Duo and Dr. Irina Muresanu of the Boston Trio. Anna performed as concertmaster of the UMD Opera Orchestra for Florencia en el Amazonas by Catan. She was a finalist in the UMD Concerto Competition in 2023 and in her final year of her masters degree she performed the violin solo from Michael Daugherty's Ladder to the Moon with music director Dr. Andrea Brown and the UMD Wind Ensemble. She is a member of the Illuminos Quartet with David Agia, Brian Shoop, and Yuan-ju Liu which was founded at UMD in 2023. She also worked for the Arts for All iniative in the UMD College of Arts and Humanities Dean's Office as a Graduate Assistant.
This summer, she will play for Spoleto Festival USA, the National Repertory Orchestra, and Masterclass Al-Andalus in Spain. She has also performed at the Aspen Music Festival and School where she studied with Juilliard violin professor Masao Kawasaki. She attended MusicAlp in 2024 where she studied with world-renowned soloist Dong-Suk Kang. In 2019 and 2022 Anna performed at the American Institute of Musical Studies Opera and Orchestra Festival in Graz, Austria (AIMS). At AIMS, she also served as a Librarian Assistant in 2019 and as the Assistant Principle Librarian in 2022. She also attended Boston University Tanglewood Institute's String Quartet Workshop led by Peter Zazofsky in 2022. She is a recipient of the Dr. Edward Adelson Scholarship at the University of Maryland and has performed in masterclasses for Stephanie Chase, Paul Katz, the Ying Quartet, and the Arabella Quartet.
She has served as concertmaster for the UMD Opera Orchestra, the UMD Symphony Orchestra, Alexandria Summer Nights, and the Anne Arundel Community College Orchestra. She recently began subbing with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra.
Anna began studying music at the age of 6 on the piano. When she started playing violin at age 8 she continued her piano studies to maintain a well-rounded music education. In high school, she decided to focus on violin to prepare for college auditions and a future career in violin performance.
Outside of music, Anna worked at World Resources Institute in 2022 as a research intern in their Cities4Forests Office. She also enjoys dancing and was a cast member in the Ballet West performance of the Nutcracker at the Kennedy Center in 2019. She is also an avid baker and chef with an eye for presentation and novel flavors.
