Biography Full

Ava GianGrasso is a student violinist based in Buffalo, New York, currently studying abroad at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. She attends Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia as a violin performance major.

Ava has been studying violin for over fourteen years, developing a love for ensemble and solo work alike. In her earlier years in Buffalo, she grew up regularly attending the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra with her family and developed a love of music which inspired her to begin violin at age 7. In high school, she was selected for numerous county and state honors orchestras, while also playing with the Greater Buffalo Youth Orchestra for four years and serving as concertmaster of her high school orchestra and chamber orchestra. Still spending her summers in Buffalo, she studies with Douglas Cone of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and volunteers at Bravo Chamber Music Workshop as a mentor for younger musicians.

In Lexington, Ava is the concertmaster of the Washington and Lee University Orchestra, as well as the founder of the W&L String Quartet. The quartet has performed at both university convocations and university wide events, such as the annual campus 9/11 memorial. Ava has also been invited to play the US National Anthem at multiple Virginia Military Institute football and basketball games, performing in front of thousands of people. She is readily available to collaborate with other musicians and gladly plays in various university ensembles when asked, such as other chamber music groups or local ensembles in Lexington.

Ava's musicianship continues to grow while studying with Benjamin Shute at the University of St Andrews during her time abroad. In preparing for her upcoming recital, she has improved her technique and developed her own musical personality that she is excited to share in her final performance.

Ava studies music out of joy and enjoys sharing it with others in different settings. In addition to formal concerts, she plays in various hospitals and assisted living facilities in her spare time. She also plays tenor saxophone in the Washington and Lee University Jazz Ensemble and rows for the University of St Andrews Women’s Senior Rowing team. After university, she plans to attend medical school to become a physician. Ava hopes to keep music close at hand by joining community ensembles and forming chamber groups in the future.