Abigail Shiman, violin

Music is a joyful personal practice and the art through which I teach, collaborate, and build community. Growing up, I loved playing trios with my Grandparents and cousins in the Hudson Valley on a visit, working on duets with my brother, and joining family sing-a-longs on beach trips.

As a pre-college student at NEC in Boston, I noticed my love of teaching for the first time in an assistant role in the Project STEP program, inspired to see students at the pre-k level engage in music and movement classes for the first time. I went on to spend my undergraduate years in the Hudson Valley. I continued to gravitate towards teaching, I learned to listen deeply and create community on the Residence Life staff, and I studied and performed chamber music as frequently as I could.

In 2013, ready to deeply focus in my own musical practice, I moved to the California to study at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music to advance my playing. Surrounded by nature, chilly fog, delicious coffee, and inspiring teachers and colleagues, I became a founding member of the Amaranth Quartet. The ensemble toured, performed, recorded, led workshops, and collaborated with composers for five transformative years. Amaranth Quartet was featured on the Kronos Quartet Festival 2017 at SF Jazz, was in residence at the Banff Centre, and collaborated with young composers to bring countless new works to life.

Since 2015, I have been a core member of San Francisco's premiere unconducted and collaborative chamber orchestra, One Found Sound. The ensemble brings the magic of chamber music to enthusiastic audiences in unique and immersive concert experiences. Each time that I participate in a week of rehearsals and performance, it feels like going home. I worked as a teaching artist at the Flying Carpet Festival in Mardin, Turkey in 2018, performing and leading workshops with artists from around the globe.

In a lifelong effort to find balance, when my violin case is closed, I might be going for a run, taking a yoga class, making another French press of coffee, baking sweet treats, or finding the nearest body of water to dive into.