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Anna L Cromwell

Anna L Cromwell

Instrumental Division Director Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola

Office: 2516 - Doudna Fine Arts Center
Phone: 217-581-7017
Email: alcromwell@eiu.edu

Anna Cromwell is both Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola and Instrumental Division Director at Eastern Illinois University.  Dr. Cromwell is a dedicated teacher, performer, and chamber musician, and has performed and taught in over a dozen states and Bermuda.  She has been on faculty at Western Kentucky University, Minnesota State University, Bravo! Summer String and Keyboard Institute, Tennessee Valley Music Festival, and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. She performs regularly in Duo XXI with cellist Dr. Mira Frisch. Albany Records will release the Duo’s new CD, Quest: New Music for Violin and Cello, in late 2010.  Highlights of Duo XXI’s recent performances include recitals at the National Gallery of Bermuda; the Bravo! Summer String and Keyboard Institute in Minneapolis, MN; and the McColl Center for Visual Art in Charlotte, NC. The ensemble has also performed at universities throughout the United States, including Winthrop University, Northern Illinois University, Coe College, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During 2010–2011 Duo XXI will perform at the Society of Composers Incorporated National Conference. Duo XXI has commissioned seven brand new works by seven different American composers. The Duo will be performing and recording these new compositions in 2010-2011.

As an avid teacher and lecturer, Dr. Cromwell has presented at both Music Teachers National Association and College Music Society Super-Regional Conferences. She will present two lectures at the 2011 American String Teachers Association National Conference: a presentation on upper string left hand technique, and a lecture recital about string duo repertoire for students. Her presentation “All Together Now! Left Hand Technique for Strings” will be part of the Illinois Music Educators Association 2011 state conference. In addition, Dr. Cromwell co-authored the article “Strings: Ideal Secondary Instruments for College Pianists,” which appeared in the April/May 2010 edition of the American Music Teacher.

Dr. Cromwell earned both her M.M. and D.M.A. under Sally O'Reilly at the University of Minnesota where she was a Dahl Fellowship recipient. She taught two summers at Meadowmount School of Music as Christian Teal's teaching assistant and served six years as a teaching assistant to Sally O'Reilly's private studio. In high school the Oklahoma native soloed with the Tulsa Philharmonic and graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts. She continued her studies at Rice University under Kathleen Winkler, and graduated summa cum laude from the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University where she won the Concerto Competition and received the Jean Keller Heard Prize. She has studied string pedagogy with Sally O'Reilly and completed Suzuki pedagogy training with Mark Bjork. Her former teachers include Elaine Richey, Kathleen Winkler, Christian Teal, and Sally O’Reilly.

Dr. Cromwell’s passion is teaching, and her students are her first priority. As a string teacher she is dedicated to helping each of her students play musically, beautifully, and with confidence.  She values her students as people first, and sets high standards within a supportive environment.  



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