Ms. Madison Holmes is pursuing her Bachelor of Music in Music Learning and Teaching, with a certification in Music Entrepreneurship at Arizona State University. She studies violin under Dr. Katherine McLin. Ms. Madison’s dedication toward music has been unwavering for as long as she can recall, from her very first recital in December 2011, to her ASU Spring performance this past April. Her love of music blossomed when she attended her first Phoenix Symphony performance at the age of 5. As she attended more symphonies, she gained an even greater passion, which led her to one of the biggest decisions of her life – taking violin lessons. Ever since that moment, she has performed in a multitude of orchestras across the Valley, from the West Valley Youth Orchestra, to the Arizona School for the Arts (ASA) Chamber Orchestra, to the ProMusica Arizona Orchestra, to the ASU Philharmonia. She is proud to call herself a fervent musician.
In high school, Ms. Madison performed in the ASA Chamber Orchestra for their culminating production – Showcase at the Orpheum Theatre, located in Downtown Phoenix. Some of the works from this distinguished performance included Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Mvt. I; Arturo Marquez’s Danzon No. 2; and Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto Grosso in d minor. Along with her experience with orchestral repertoire, she has performed a plethora of chamber repertoire. She was placed in high-level string quartets and quintets throughout her high school career, and can say for certain that chamber music has “stolen her heart”. Some of her personal favorites consist of two renowned viola quintets – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Quintet in g minor, Mvt. I; and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Quintet in C Major, Mvt. I. Ms. Madison hopes to continue her chamber music training by studying the history of chamber music in college, in addition to attending a few intensive camps in Colorado and Washington state.
Ms. Madison also loves to teach the violin to many eager students. She was a volunteer violin teacher through Harmony Project Phoenix during her junior year of high school, where she had four private students. She also is a violin teacher through the ASU String Project under the direction of Dr. Margaret Schmidt, where she currently has two private students, and has a desire to build her studio. Ms. Madison aspires to become a violin pedagogue at the university tier one day, as she wishes to spark passion within highly motivated music scholars. She quotes that “her greatest inspirations stem from her own musical predecessors – her teachers and professors”.
In addition to her extensive violin background, Ms. Madison possesses knowledge in both piano and guitar. She holds 8 years of piano experience, and has played pieces such as Ludwig van Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, Mvt. I; Erik Satie’s Gnossienne No. 1 and 2; and Fryderyk Chopin’s Prelude No. 4, Op. 28 in e minor. She also began taking voice lessons in the summer of 2020, along with Celtic fiddle lessons in January 2021.
Ms. Madison is ecstatic to be part of the Kat’s Artist Tree family, and looks forward to nurturing her students through the musical medium.