Alana Chown (cello) B.M. (Ithaca College) and M.M. (University of Michigan); cello studies with Elizabeth Simkin, Anthony Elliott, Heidi Hoffman, Denis Brott, and Uri Vardi; masterclasses with Richard Aaron, Timothy Eddy, Hans Jørgen Jensen, Anner Bylsma, András Fejér; chamber music studies include Takacs, Cavani, Ying, Audubon, Concord, Pacifica and Ariadne String Quartets as well as Rachel Barton-Pine, Ani Kavafian, Jaime Laredo, Martin Katz, and Anner Bylsma; music festival performance include Heifetz International Music Institute, Audubon Quartet’s Intensive String Quartet Seminar, and the National Summer Cello Institute. Alana was a former student at CCMS in the studios of Eugene Kim and Donna Denniston.

Alana was previously a faculty member of the String Academy of Wisconsin at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. At the String Academy, she provided individual and group cello instruction, acted as a guest lecturer in cello pedagogy, directed the summer chamber music festival, and coordinated the Urban Students in the Arts Outreach Cello Program. As a freelance performer and teacher, Alana was the principal cellist of the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra, an Artist-in-Residence at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Milwaukee, taught for two summers at Ithaca College’s Summer Music Academy, and maintained a thriving private teaching studio. Currently, Alana is performing as a substitute with Symphony New Hampshire and is a faculty member at the Nashua Community Music School. In collaboration with pianist Elena Abend, Alana recorded and released her solo debut album Paper Moon in 2015 which can be found on Spotify and iTunes.

Click to listen to Alana play – Five Pieces on Folk Themes: I. Arobnaya · Alana Dust · Elena Abend