Cello
Vanessa Belknap has been playing cello since age four and has been involved in performing arts ensembles for opera, musical theater, and symphony orchestras-with which she toured in China and Germany. Vanessa has also been an active chamber musician for many years and has worked with members of the Guarneri, St. Lawrence, Julliard, Tokyo, Brentano, and Pacifica String Quartets. Her string quartet has been invited to the Portland String Quartet workshop in Portland, ME. She currently plays with the Longy Chamber Orchestra in Cambridge and is a cellist with the Boston String Ensemble.
Vanessa has her BM cum laude in cello performance from Arizona State University where she was a full-scholarship student and studied with members of the Phoenix Symphony and professor Thomas Landschoot. She is currently on scholarship at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA where she is pursuing her Masters of Music with professor Terry King. She has been a private teacher with students of all ages since 2002 and is a vivacious, fun, and adaptive teacher who believes everyone should be able to experience the power of creating music and having it resonate throughout your body.
“I’m the only person in my immediate family to play a musical instrument. Many people assume my parents were in the symphony or my mother taught piano when I say I have been playing since I was four. I’m also the only person in my immediate family to attend and graduate from a four-year university. These two variables certainly have a direct correlation. Cello has played a larger role in my life than just allowing me to experience the joys of music. Because I am a musician, I am hardworking. My life would be immensely different if I didn’t play cello. Music has launched me out of my family’s economic bracket and into other countries; it has given me a taste of the world!”
