About Holly Strings Youth Orchestra

AsheLee has been teaching music for over twenty-five years, both privately and in public school. She earned a Bachelor of Music in cello performance at East Carolina University (NC), and continued Masters studies in cello performance at Converse College (SC), as well as American University in Washington, DC, where her focus was on Arts Administration. 

Her career began in Wilmington, NC, where she was a middle school string orchestra teacher and private cello instructor at the Wilmington Academy of Music. 

She decided to explore her passion for arts administration and soon moved to Washington, DC. While there she worked as communications manager for the American String Teachers Association, and for several years was the editor of a scholarly music journal, American String Teacher. After leaving ASTA, she relocated to New York where she performed in various orchestras and chamber music groups, and founded music studios in Brooklyn and Maplewood, New Jersey.

In 2017, she and her family settled down in North Carolina where she leads a music school located in Holly Springs. AsheLee has performed with chamber ensembles and orchestras, including the Brooklyn Community Symphony Orchestra, Long Bay Symphony, and Wilmington Symphony Orchestra. Professional associations include Music Teachers National Association and the American String Teachers Association. 

Violinist Anna Black was recently named Assistant Concertmaster of the North Carolina Symphony, a position she assumed in the spring of 2023. She has previously served as the Lansing Symphony Orchestra concertmaster and the National Repertory Orchestra co-concertmaster.  

Anna has appeared as a soloist with the North Carolina Symphony in their summer season, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Brevard Music Festival Orchestra, the Idaho Civic Symphony, the Meridian Symphony Orchestra and the Boise Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. She has performed as concertmaster with the Adrian Symphony Orchestra, and has served as concertmaster and principal second violin of the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra and assistant concertmaster of the Aspen Festival Orchestra. Anna has performed chamber music alongside distinguished performers, including Robert McDuffie, Lawrence Dutton, and the Cavani String Quartet.  

Anna completed her Master’s Degree at the University of Michigan, where she studied with Professor Fabiola Kim. She graduated from the McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University as a student of Amy Moretti, David Kim, and Robert McDuffie. 

Anna Black performs on a violin by Camillo Camilli, 1745, courtesy of Guarneri Hall NFP and Darnton & Hersh Fine Violins, Chicago.

Michelle’s dedication to music-making with young people has been a source of inspiration in her nearly thirty years in music education. She and her four (musical) children have lived in Apex since 2020, where she currently has a private teaching studio. With degrees from the University of Rochester and the Eastman School of Music, Michelle offers instrumental lessons in piano,

violin, viola, and cello. Additionally, her extensive chamber music and orchestral experience has enabled her to work with groups in Cary, Holly Springs, and Meredith College. 

Michelle is currently a violinist in the Durham Symphony Orchestra and freelances as a collaborative musician in the Triangle area.

Prior to moving to North Carolina, Michelle lived in Rochester, NY and Pittsburgh, PA. Working at private music schools and universities in those cities taught her the skills to cultivate and nurture a love for music-making in others. Connecting with a student’s creative voice is an important aspect of her teaching philosophy. That connection can motivate technique and ability, musical expression, and the desire to share musical gifts with others through collaboration or solo performance. Self-expression through music gives students a host of skills, along with a sense of beauty and truth, that might not otherwise be possible with other endeavors. 

Michelle is thrilled to be working with the young musicians in this community. She has no doubt that her colleagues at HSYO, supporters within the community, parents, and young musicians themselves will create a musical and cultural legacy that will last many years to come.