Music

Anna Larson

Title: Adjunct Instructor, Violin and Chamber Music
Department: Music
Email: alarson@uttyler.edu

Degrees

• Master of Music in Violin Performance, Indiana University
• Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance, Indiana University

Biography

ANNA LARSON is a passionate chamber and orchestral musician, as well as a studio musician and soloist. Originally from Issaquah, WA, she now performs and teaches in Tyler, TX and the surrounding area.

Beginning her musical studies on the piano at the age of 4, Anna later discovered a passion for the violin that led her to pursue a life of music. She received her Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees in Violin Performance from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, studying with Austin Hartman and Grigory Kalinovsky. Other mentors have included Jan Coleman, Simon James, Hiro David, Dr. Kelley Johnson, and Cora Reuter Foster.

An avid chamber musician and coach, Anna frequently performs in collaborative ensemble consonari with her husband, Kaden Larson (piano). As a sponsored ensemble of the Collaborative Musicians’ Project, consonari coaches and performs side-by-side with members of their Youth Ensemble Program, and gives performances and workshops in K-12 schools. Anna also serves as secretary and heads the community outreach program for the organization. In March 2023, consonari performed as guest artists at Brigham Young University and Brigham Young University-Idaho.

Anna is actively involved in supporting and performing contemporary music and enjoys finding lesser-known works from any era, especially those by under-represented composers. Her ensemble consonari prioritizes programming these works.In 2023, they performed the world premiere of George N. Gianopoulos’ Introduction, Allegro & Grand Romance, for violin and piano, Op. 13b as part of their spring recital, and created a separate video and audio recording of the piece following the performance.

Alongside her work with consonari, Anna enjoys mentoring young musicians and maintains a small private studio. She has taught for IU’s Fairview Violin Program and as an elementary string instructor in the Monroe County Community School Corporation. Anna gave a violin masterclass at BYU-Idaho in March 2023. Beginning in Fall 2023, she will teach applied violin and chamber music at the University of Texas at Tyler as an adjunct instructor.

A frequent orchestral musician, Anna has served as Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic and Assistant Concertmaster of the Ensign Symphony and Chorus. She has also performed with the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, and Carmel Symphony Orchestra. Anna appears on various recordings, including Jennifer Thomas’ The Fire Within (2018) as a session player from the Ensign Symphony.

Anna has participated in multiple international music festivals, including Atlantic Music Festival as an Instrumental Fellow in 2021, Philadelphia International Music Festival, where she received Honorable Mention in the 2017 Concerto Competition, Pacific Region International Summer Music Academy, and ARIA International Summer Academy. She has also performed as a soloist with the Ensign Symphony and Chorus.

Outside of music, Anna enjoys cooking and baking, learning new board games, reading, spending time outside, and entertaining her orange tabby cat Apollo.