About Beth McKenna
Over 30 Years Experience Teaching and Performing
Professional experience:
- The Colorado Springs Philharmonic Orchestra
- The Houston Grand Opera Orchestra
- The Houston Ballet Orchestra
- The Houston Symphony Orchestra
- The Santa Fe Opera Orchestra
- Founder and first violin: The Houston String Quartet & Elizabeth Trio
- Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra (Durango)
- Tetons Festival Orchestra
- American Institute of Musical Studies, Graz, Austria
- National Repertory Orchestra
- Aspen Festival Orchestra
Education:
- Bachelor of Music in violin performance, minor in history, Oberlin Conservatory
- Master of Music, Graduate Fellow in violin performance, Rice University Shepherd School of Music
My favorite violinist is Itzhak Perlman, pictured here with me after a recent performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto with The Colorado Springs Philharmonic. I enjoy playing symphonic music and opera. I have played over 500 Nutcracker ballet performances with the Houston Ballet Orchestra.
I have performed with a wide range of performers, including The Moody Blues, Yanni, The Three Tenors, Linda Ronstadt, Bernadette Peters, Smoky Robinson, Ray Charles, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page and dozens of famous singers, groups and orchestral soloists. I have played a very wide range of ballet, opera and symphonic repertoire, have played in many musicals and shows and have played for brides and grooms at hundreds of weddings and receptions, mostly in the Houston area and in Colorado.
I have taught hundreds of students violin, music theory and composition at my home studio over the past 30 years. I look forward to meeting you!