Marina DeMarco
Violin

Like many, Marina got her start in music playing in an orchestra in elementary school. She was a frequently gigging quartet musician by high school and began teaching private violin lessons in 2015. Marina traveled with the MountainTop Strings Camerata for performances touring Italy in 2016 and 2017 and a showcase at Carnegie Hall in 2017, playing music ranging across many genres from baroque to pop.

She moved to Seattle in 2018 to study music at Cornish College of the Arts, where her musical world expanded to include contemporary chamber music, experimental music, improvisation, songwriting, and folk music. During her time at Cornish she studied privately with Michael Jinsoo Lim (violin), Ruthie Dornfeld (fiddle), and Dr. Kaley Lane Eaton (composition/songwriting). Marina holds a Bachelor of Music from Cornish College of the Arts (2022).

Over the past couple of years, Marina has pivoted a large part of her focus towards studying the fiddle and folksong traditions of North-America. She also has an interest in Scandinavian folk music and is a recipient of the Hardanger Fiddle Association of America (HFAA) instrument loan program. She’s currently studying the Norwegian hardingfele with Rachel Nesvig.

Marina’s creative endeavors lie in finding new ways to bring together ambient violin-generated soundworlds with traditional folk musics and original works.

Her broad experience as a musician translates to a versatile teaching approach tailored to each student’s needs and interests. She works primarily with middle-school to adult students of all levels. Lessons cover foundational skills in instrument technique, practice strategies, learning by ear, reading sheet music, musicality, and more.