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Anna Edwards

MUSIC DIRECTOR / CONDUCTOR 
The 2024-2025 season marks the tenth season for Anna Edwards as music director and conductor of Whidbey's Saratoga Orchestra.  In addition to her conducting duties with Saratoga, Anna is founder and music director of Seattle Collaborative Orchestra, and Music Director of the Pacific Northwest Conducting Institute. In 2018-2019 Edwards led the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra as Interim Music Advisor and Conductor. She has been selected to conduct numerous All-State Orchestras, honor ensembles, and regional orchestras across the country.

Anna's musical career progression as a violinist, educator, and symphony conductor has been inspired by her commitment to core values of high-quality musical performance, development of musicians and composers through music education and community engagement. Anna is recognized as a leader in the United States for the expectation of musical diversity in symphonic orchestral music.

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Anna’s dedication to quality musical performance started with her early career as a professional violinist, performing with prestigious ensembles such as the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Northwest Sinfonietta, Auburn Symphony, Silsbee Piano Trio and multiple chamber ensembles. As a violinist, Ms. Edwards was drawn to innovative new music and a strong desire to keep classical music relevant with generational changes in audiences. Recognizing that change starts at the student level, Anna’s focus moved to music education, including serving as the Music Director at the national award-winning Roosevelt High School in Seattle for 18 years.

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Leveraging her experiences as an instrumentalist and educator Edwards turned to refine her career as a conductor. After training with Michael Jinbo at the renowned Pierre Monteux School for three seasons, she received her Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Washington. Currently, Edwards balances her time between conducting in the Pacific Northwest, serving as a guest conductor/clinician across the country, and developing young musicians through instruction and collaboration with professionals in concert settings

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