Ellie MacPhee
Old-Time Appalachian Music
Teaching Philosophy
I strive to give my students the technical and musical skills to have a life-long appreciation of music making. It is a priority for me to teach in a way that fosters curiosity, confidence, dedication, and cultural understanding. I make learning fun and engaging for my students by adapting to their learning style, building trust, and celebrating any and all sounds we make together.Education
B.M. in Violin Performance, Oberlin Conservatory; M.M. in Music Education, Longy School of Music at Bard College; Pedagogical studies with Sibbi Bernhardsson, Jesse Mills, and Jinjoo Cho
Bio
Ellie MacPhee is a performing violinist and teacher whose work is focused on the use of violin mastery as a landscape for emotional expression and joyful music making. Her path as a musician began with traditional folk and bluegrass music, which later propelled her into her study as a classical violinist. She has attended chamber music festivals such as ENCORE Chamber Intensive, Domaine Forget, Credo Winter Intensive, and The Parker String Quartet Seminar. In 2019 Ellie received the Flint Initiative Grant for her artist residency at Arts Letters and Numbers where she worked closely with a group of women, trans, and nonbinary composers to create an ongoing concert series. In her undergraduate years, she pioneered the Oberlin Strings at Grafton program, an El Sistema inspired strings class for incarcerated men. When not performing or teaching, Ellie can be found hiking up mountains, doodling, or learning the banjo.