Maggie Niekamp, Violin & Viola

Maggie Niekamp, violinist, is a second-year graduate student at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she studies with Timothy Lees, former Concertmaster of the Cincinnati Symphony. Maggie received her BM degree in Violin Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music (May 2019), where she studied with Stephen Rose, principal second violinist of The Cleveland Orchestra, and Brian Lewis.

Maggie started playing the violin at the age of four. Her former teachers include Francesca Chase, Marlene Moses, and Amy Barlowe. Maggie has performed in solo masterclasses for Almita Vamos, Ilya Kaler, David Kim, and for various members of the Cleveland Orchestra, including Sonja Braaten-Molloy and Lembi Veskimets. She has also performed in chamber music masterclasses for former Cleveland Quartet member, Peter Salaff.

An avid orchestral musician, Maggie currently holds the position of section violin in the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra. Maggie also serves as a substitute violinist with the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic, and with The Firelands Symphony in Sandusky, Ohio.

Maggie’s summer music experiences in the last five years include the Meadowmount School of Music (2016), the Chautauqua Music School Festival Orchestra (2017, 2018), and the National Repertory Orchestra (2019). At both Chautauqua and the National Repertory Orchestra,

Maggie was given the opportunity to perform in concerts as Principal Second Violin. This Summer, Maggie plans to return to Breckenridge, Colorado to perform in concerts as a Section Violin Member of the National Repertory Orchestra

Also passionate about teaching, Maggie has gained teaching experience through the Cleveland Institute of Music’s preparatory department, where she assisted with the preparatory orchestras for two years—leading sectionals and assisting the students with their music. Maggie is a registered Suzuki Teacher through Suzuki Violin Books one-four. She took two semesters of Suzuki Pedagogy at the Cleveland Institute of Music, under the tutelage of registered Suzuki Association of the Americas teacher trainer, Kimberly Meier-Sims. Maggie served as violin faculty at Miss Shannon’s music studio in Batesville, Indiana for her first semester at the Cincinnati—College Conservatory of Music in Fall 2019.

In her free time, Maggie enjoys practicing yoga, running, and cooking.