"I have never heard a better performance of Merce and Baby"
--George Lewis, composer
"The clear high point of the evening"
--South Florida Classical Review
Bio
I was born into a musical family, beginning violin lessons with my parents at the age of five. Together with my parents and sister, I helped found the Abel Family Quartet in 2003.
I have a B.M. from Butler University, where I studied with Larry Shapiro. While at Butler, I was concertmaster of the Butler Symphony Orchestra and Butler Ballet Orchestra. I was honored to win Butler University's Concerto Competition in 2015-2016, performing Saint Saens' Concerto No. 3 with the Butler Symphony Orchestra.
I earned my M.M. at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music in 2018. At Frost, I served as concertmaster of both the Henry Mancini Institute and Ensemble Ibis, and appeared as Principle Second violin with the Frost Symphony Orchestra. I also had the privilege of performing in masterclasses with Silvia Marcovicci and Gerard Schwarz. My teachers were Scott Flavin and Charles Castleman.
I have performed at chamber music festivals and concert series around the USA including the Castleman Quartet Program, Britt Festival, Festival Napa Valley, Tippecanoe Chamber Music Society, Greencastle Summer Music Festival, Finger Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Sioux City Chamber Music Series, and Vista Lirica (NYC). I have been privileged to perform chamber works along-side members of the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, St. Lawrence Quartet, and Ives Quartet.
In addition to treasured chamber music staples from the past, I am always eager to tackle newly composed and unjustly neglected works. My performance of Melinda Wagner’s Four Settings was described as “the clear high point of the evening” by South Florida Classical Review. After a performance of a spectral work by George Lewis, the composer himself said “I have never heard a better performance of Merce and Baby." I have recently championed and premiered works by James Aikman, Richard Auldon Clark, Michael Schelle, and Jorge Lopez Marin.
I am currently completing my doctorate of musical arts at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, and have served as concertmaster of the CCM Chamber Orchestra. I study violin with Timothy Lees.
In my spare time, I enjoy running, reading, and studying the word of God in scripture. All glory to God!