Celaya Kirchner, violin
Celaya Kirchner is currently Principal Second Violin of the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra. She received her Masters degree in Violin Performance from the University of Massachusetts Amherst under the tutelage of Elizabeth Chang. As part of a string quartet fellowship, she received coaching from members of the Cleveland, Ying, and Dover Quartets. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Maryland, studying with David Salness of the Left Bank Quartet. She has attended Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Meadowmount School of Music, and Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music. Celaya is on the faculty of M Institute of the Arts and of Richardson School of Music, and is a founding member, with Carl Banner and Emma Hays Johnson, of the Milo Piano Trio. Celaya is also the co-founder of “Empath Concerts” with her colleague, cellist Emma Hays Johnson. Empath Concerts aims to cultivate open-minded discussions about current and social affairs through music. The format for Empath includes live classical music and thoughtful discussions with performer and audience participation. Concerts are programmed according to social topics that are present in music history as well as current events.