About me
a very intuitive and inventive player"
-Kacie Weber (recording artist)
Carnegie Mellon University, Advanced Music Studies Certificate in Orchestral Performance 2022
Carnegie Mellon University, Master of Music in Violin Performance 2020
Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, BM in Violin Performance 2018
Violinist Marissa Weston enjoys a multidimensional career in performance, recording, and education with the vision of creating community through music where individuals are known and experience belonging.
Marissa is a violinist in the New World Symphony. Her playing has been described by the Boston Musical Intelligencer as "vivid" and "tasty". She has spent summers as concertmaster at the Tanglewood Music Center, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival and National Repertory Orchestra. Marissa actively substitutes with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, and Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra.
As a soloist, Marissa has been honored to win the Pittsburgh Concert Society Major Artist Competition and has appeared in masterclasses with James Ehnes and Martin Chalifour. She has performed chamber music with members of the Pittsburgh Symphony and has been coached by Donald Weilerstein and Norman Fischer, among others.
A few of Marissa's orchestral highlights have included performances under the batons of Andris Nelsons and Manfred Honeck as well as concerts in the Elbphilharmonie and Mozarteum. A diverse musician, Marissa has been a featured artist on two alternative folk albums.
Passionate about her community, Marissa created a project in 2020 to bring music to homeless shelters, hospitals and rehabilitation centers in Pittsburgh. She believes music can bring unity, healing and dignity to communities that lack resources and access to a standard concert hall setting. One of Marissa's greatest joys is coaching boxing, sports and life skills at her church's inner city after school program for teens.
Marissa holds a master's degree and advanced music studies certificate from Carnegie Mellon University and a bachelor's degree in violin performance from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where she was a Founder's Scholar. Her primary teachers include Christopher Wu and Grigory Kalinovsky. She loves to share her passion for music through teaching and received her pedagogy training under Dr. Brenner at the Indiana University String Academy.
In her free time, Marissa loves to play sports and can usually be found outdoors or enjoying a game night with her friends and family and a scoop of ice cream!