Mari De Napoli
Violin and Viola
Los Angeles native Mari De Napoli is a multi-faceted violinist, educator, and entrepreneur. From her earliest memories, classical music has been an integral part of her life. She began her violin training at the age of four and continued her pre-college studies as a merit scholarship student at The Colburn School in Los Angeles and at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music. She went on to graduate Magna Cum Laude from UCLA, earning a Bachelor’s in Violin Performance with minors in Music Industry and Entrepreneurship. Currently, she is pursuing her Master’s degree at Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music. She has studied under renowned teachers, such as Aimee Kreston, Guillaume Sutre, Varty Manouelian, Bing Wang, and Anne Montzka-Smelser.
Passionate about orchestral playing, Mari has held concertmaster and principal positions with the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra, South Side Symphony, Santa Monica Symphony, UCLA Philharmonia, Colburn orchestras, American Youth Symphony, and the Debut Orchestra. Her chamber and orchestral playing have taken her to Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, UCLA’s Royce Hall, and LACMA’s Bing Theater. She has also been lucky enough to tour globally to France, Russia, Finland, and Estonia with various chamber groups.
Presently, Mari is building her teaching studio throughout the Chicagoland area. She is a registered Suzuki teacher through Book 3 and loves teaching students of all ages and abilities. She aims to highlight the joy that learning music brings. Music has been a foundation in all facets of her life, teaching her lifelong skills such as tenacity, patience, and a love for collaboration and she hopes to share that with her students. She believes in building a strong foundation that leads to beautiful tone, minimal pain, and long-term enjoyment. In her spare time, Mari is a voracious reader of fiction, an avid hiker, and a baker in training.