Willa Finck
Willa Finck, a native of Boone, North Carolina, is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Music Degree at the Eastman School of Music, studying with Mikhail Kopelman. She has served as a concertmaster in both the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra and the Eastman Philharmonia since Fall 2015. In 2016 she won the Eastman School Violin Concerto Competition, which led to her performance as soloist with the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra, playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. Earlier accolades include winning the Asheville Symphony Young Artists competition in 2014 and the Kathleen Price and Joseph M. Bryant North Carolina Symphony Young Artists Competition in 2015, with subsequent solo appearances with both orchestras.
Finck attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts her senior year of high school, where she studied with Ida Bieler and Sarah Johnson. In addition to her passion for classical music, she enjoys playing Celtic and Old-Time music. For over a decade, Finck played fiddle as a member of a Celtic band that performed across western North Carolina, most notably at the roots-based music festival MerleFest.