About
Michigan-based violinist Megan Healy enjoys a multifaceted career as a freelance performing artist and teacher. Megan founded the Kal-Haven Strings in 2020. Performing for over 50 concerts and events per year, the Kal-Haven Strings are the resident artists for the Candlelight Concerts by Fever series in both Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, performing a variety of classical, film, and pop music. As an orchestral musician, Megan has held positions with the Kalamazoo, Southwest Michigan, Cheyenne (WY), Holland (MI), and Southeast Iowa symphony orchestras. Additionally, she has performed with Opera Grand Rapids, the South Bend Symphony, West Michigan Symphony, Battle Creek Symphony, Boulder Philharmonic, Fort Collins Symphony, Greeley (CO) Philharmonic, and the Boulder Chamber Orchestra. Recent special engagements have included a performance as guest soloist with the Elgin (IL) Youth Symphony, interdisciplinary collaborations with Life/Art Dance Ensemble, and the live premiere of Julián Brijaldo's Atravesa'o for violin and delay pedal. Her debut album, Aurora: A Tribute to Maud Powell, features five new commissions for solo violin written by American women and was released in March 2021. The album has subsequently been broadcast by WFMT in Chicago and REKA KD radio in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Megan maintains a thriving private studio of over 30 students between ages 5 and 75. Inspired by her adult students, her doctoral research focused on engaging the adult learner in beginning violin lessons, and was presented at the American String Teachers Association National Conference in 2023. An advocate for equity and access in music education, Megan served as the String Department Chair for the El Sistema-inspired organization Kalamazoo Kids In Tune from 2020-2022. Inspired in part by her experiences at Kids in Tune, Megan presented on Classroom Management for the Teaching Artist at the ASTA National Conference in 2024. Currently, Megan serves as Chair of the ASTA Certificate Advancement Program (ASTACAP) national committee. Committed to promoting music by traditionally underrepresented composers, Megan helped update the ASTACAP repertoire list to include a greater variety of music by women and BIPOC composers, as well as from eclectic styles. As Chair in 2024 and Vice Chair in 2023, Megan also presented Round Tables at the ASTA National Conference, and was a panelist on the benefits of ASTA membership and musicians wellness topics. Additionally, she presented at the Virtual String Teachers Summit in 2023 and 2024. Her former students study music at the Juilliard School, La Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya in Barcelona, the University of Toronto, Boston University, Southern Methodist University, University of Oregon, Elmhurst University, University of Colorado Boulder, Western Michigan University, and more.
As an avid chamber musician, Megan has collaborated with artists including Van-Anh Vanessa Voh, JP Jofre, Pablo Mahave-Veglia, Christine Rutledge, Timothy Buzbee, and Matthew van Emmerik. She has been coached by members of the Tackács, Pacifica, American, Cavani, JACK, Daedalus, Jupiter, Fry Street, Avalon, and Kontras quartets, as well as members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Boston Chamber Music Society, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Vancouver Symphony. As a soloist, she has appeared in masterclasses presented by Joel Smirnoff, Ilya Kaler, Frank Almond, Blair Milton, Mimi Zweig, Lucie Robert, Janet Sung, Lauren Roth, Michael Jinsoo Lim, Kevork Mardirossian, Hal Grossman, James Buswell, Kimberly Fisher, and more.
Megan earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Violin Performance from the University of Colorado Boulder, where she served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. She is a student of Károly Schranz and Harumi Rhodes, the former and current second violinists in the world-renowned Takács quartet. Dr. Healy also holds Master of Music and Artist Diploma degrees from Western Michigan University, where she served as graduate teaching assistant to Professor Renata Artman Knific, as well as a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance from the University of Iowa, where she studied with Dr. Scott Conklin. She has studied viola performance with Professor Igor Fedotov and Dr. Megan Gray.
The Maud Powell Project
The Maud Powell Project celebrates the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and Women's Suffrage with five new works for solo violin inspired by and dedicated to violinist Maud Powell. The works, commissioned by violinist Megan Healy and written by American female composers Lauren Bernofsky, Elisabeth Blair, Stephanie Ann Boyd, Jessica Meyer, and Hilary Purrington, were recorded at the University of Denver in August 2020 and premiered in Chicago in May 2021. The works will subsequently be performed in a variety of contexts, including solo violin recitals, lecture recitals, and outreach performances with dancers from Life/Art Dance ensemble for children and for senior citizens living in low income housing communities in the Denver Metro area. The album, Aurora: A Tribute to Maud Powell, was released in March 2021.
The Album
Featuring music by American composers Stephanie Ann Boyd, Jessica Meyer, Hilary Purrington, Elisabeth Blair, and Lauren Bernofsky. Available via compact disk, digital download, and now streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora.