Violinist Ashley Crawford ’23 (Bachelor of Music in Performance) placed first in the 2021 Charleston International Music Competition and third in the King’s Peak International Competition this summer. She also placed in the silver medal category at the 2021 North American Virtuoso International Music Competition (NAVIMC) earlier this summer. Crawford studies with Victor Brown Endowed Chair in Violin and Associate Professor of Violin Akemi Takayama, M.M.
In 2019, Crawford was the principal second violinist in the Potomac Valley Youth Orchestra (PVYO) and went on to win the senior division of PVYO’s 2019 concerto competition. That same year, she completed two teaching internships with local youth orchestras, ranging from elementary to high school-aged students. As a teacher, Crawford had her first private student win an award for most improved string student. She concluded high school having won numerous musical awards and chose to attend Shenandoah Conservatory. As a student at Shenandoah, Crawford has been delving deeper into her studies in orchestral, musical theatre, chamber and solo repertoire. In 2020 and 2021, she was the principal second violinist in the Shenandoah Conservatory Symphony Orchestra and was featured as a soloist in SU’s production of “The Last Five Years.” She has attended multiple summer music festivals including the Eastern Music Festival, Frostburg’s Summer Music Academy (where she took a fourth-place finish in the 2018 Telford International Competition), the National Music Festival in Chestertown, Maryland, and the National Philharmonic Senior String Institute. Crawford has had masterclasses and coachings with artists such as Tchaikovsky competition winner Eric Silberger and members of the National Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic Piano Quartet. She has previously studied violin with Jessica Tai, Shu-Ting Yao, Aubrey Holmes, Patrick Shaugnessy and Avi Nagin.
