Abigail Bracewell, MM

Abigail is an active violin teacher and performer currently centered in Houston, Texas. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro under Marjorie Bagley. She continued her studies at the University of Houston in the studio of Dr. Kirsten Yon, earning a Master of Music degree in Performance and Pedagogy. Abigail’s other teachers include Stephanie Ezerman, whom she studied with in high school, and Fenella Humphreys in England, where she spent a semester studying abroad.

Abigail began her musical journey at age five with piano lessons. Music quickly became a central part in her family’s house, when her dad began playing music again. Three years later, Abigail started taking violin lessons. In high school, she started arranging string quartet arrangement for her family string quartet, which performed frequently at her church as well as local retirement centers. She continued to work on her arranging skills, often in piano lessons. Now she arranges both church music and popular pieces for a variety of instrumentations.

Throughout her childhood, Abigail performed frequently on the violin in youth chamber ensembles and orchestras. In college, Abigail performed with her school’s top orchestras and chamber ensembles. Some highlights of her collegiate career include premiering works of local composers, performing in many masterclasses, and traveling with the school orchestra on tour at the Kennedy Center. Abigail is an active performer in chamber ensembles and symphony orchestras. She has performed with the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra and Salisbury Symphony in North Carolina. She has also performed in chamber concerts with the Triad Early Music Society and has premiered works of local composers for chamber ensembles as well as orchestra. Abigail currently performs occasionally with the Symphony of Southeast Texas, and also as a soloist and chamber musician for local events and concerts across the Houston area.

Abigail first began teaching violin in her junior year of high school. She has taught violin, viola, and beginning piano lessons to students of all ages, including beginning adult students learning to play an instrument for their personal enjoyment. Abigail began violin lessons with the Suzuki Method books, but her violin training incorporated a variety of teaching methods, including standard etude and exercise books as well as fiddling and hymns. She pulls from her eclectic background for her mixed style of teaching, combining the repertoire from the Suzuki Method books with traditional etude and technique books to meet the student’s needs and interests.

Abigail currently teaches private lessons at J. Frank Dobie High School in Pasadena I.S.D and maintains a robust private studio out of her home in Bellaire, Texas teaching both in-person and online. Besides performing and teaching, Abigail enjoys baking, running, Crossfit, and reading fantasy novels.