Amelia Bailey

Violinist Amelia Bailey is currently based in Virginia where she freelances and teaches. She earned her master’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music while studying with Sheryl Staples, and her bachelor’s from the University of Virginia in 2021 with degrees in Music Performance and Environmental Science. Amelia studied with members of the National Symphony Orchestra before college, and in high school she was a fellow in the NSO Youth Fellowship program at the Kennedy Center. 

Amelia’s orchestral freelance career consists of a position with the Albany Symphony (where she commutes to once a month), and playing with multiple regional orchestras in Virginia, as well as traveling to play with orchestras she’s a substitute for. 

This will be Amelia’s third summer at NRO; she was an orchestra member in 2022 and a co-concertmaster in 2025. Other festivals she’s been to include Spoleto USA, the Robert Mann String Quartet Institute, the National Orchestral Institute, the NSO Summer Music Institute, and the Young Artist Summer Program at Curtis Institute.

Amelia’s goal is to eventually win a job with a full-time orchestra, and when she is not busy preparing for auditions, she enjoys photography, plantkeeping, and spending time on her family’s farm in Virginia. 

Anna Kelleher

Anna is excited to return to NRO as a member of the Alumni String Quartet after spending two summers performing with the orchestra. She finished her masters degree at the University of Maryland in May 2025 and is now freelancing in the Washington DC area and beyond. She is affiliated with New World Symphony, Annapolis Symphony, National Philharmonic, and Baltimore Chamber Orchestra. She has also performed with Spoleto Festival USA, the Aspen Music Festival, the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, and MusicAlp in France. She was a soloist with the University of Maryland Wind Ensemble in 2025 and a finalist in the University of Maryland Concerto Competition performing the Korngold Violin Concerto.

During her masters degree studies, she worked with the Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities and the Arts for All Initiative to organize over 100 events a year, including chats with Dionne Warwick and Kermit the Frog, as well as a national symposium on AI in the arts. She also worked on the “vAIolin initiative” with her teacher, Irina Muresanu, who is building an online platform that provides live feedback for beginning violin students between their lessons. Anna performs with ensembles representing many different musical genres, including classical, pop, video game music, R&B, musical theatre, opera, and jazz, while preparing audition music for full-time orchestra positions across the country. Outside of music she enjoys traveling, coloring, caring for her digital dinosaurs, roller coasters, and cooking for her friends and family. Her mom is a professional violinist and her dad composes and performs jazz classical fusion on the side. Her parents are wholly responsible for her love of music and collaboration. This summer, she is looking forward to working with her fellow ASQ members to create memorable performances across Colorado!

Sarah Nichols

Sarah Nichols, originally from Albany New York, is a violist living in Cincinnati, Ohio. Recently winning a job with the Lexington Philharmonic in Kentucky, Sarah began her position as Section Violist in the 2025-2026 season. In addition to her appointment in Lexington, Sarah is a frequent substitute with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, as well as several other orchestras throughout Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

In 2025, Sarah graduated with a Masters in Viola Performance from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, where she received a full-tuition scholarship to study with Dr. Catharine Carroll Lees. In pursuit of her Bachelor’s degree, Sarah first attended Ithaca College with Kyle Armbrust, before ultimately graduating from Baldwin Wallace University, where she studied with Lembi Veskimets.

In 2024, Sarah played in a masterclass for Beth Guterman Chu, Principal Violist of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. She also performed for Principal Violist of the National Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Foster in the mainstage masterclass at the Ohio Viola Society’s 2023 Viola Day. Other notable masterclasses include performances for Pierre-Henri Xuereb, Lynne Ramsey, Brian Hong, Stanley Konopka, Jessica Bodner, and the Warp Trio.

In the summers of 2024 and 2025, Sarah played in the viola section of the National Repertory Orchestra. She is looking forward to another great summer of music, mountain views, and friends as she returns to perform in the 2026 Alumni String Quartet. When not playing viola, Sarah enjoys reading, mending old jeans, running, and spending time around the kitchen table with family and friends. If the sun is shining, you can expect to find her lounging on a patch of grass.

Andrew Shinn

Andrew Shinn is a cellist living in Chicago. He is a member of the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, which he joined in 2023, and the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, which he joined in 2024. He also frequently performs with other orchestras in the area including the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Orchestra Iowa, and the Lincolnwood Chamber Orchestra.

Andrew maintains a small private teaching studio in the city of Chicago, and has students from ages 4 to 40. He has students participating in the top Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, adult students in local community orchestras, and young students holding a cello for the very first time! Andrew also teaches at the Merit School of Music where he gives private lessons and group classes across Chicago.

Andrew is thrilled to be returning for his third summer in Breckenridge after two consecutive years as a member of the NRO cello section. In previous summers, Andrew has attended the Chautauqua Institution where he served as principal of the festival orchestra for two summers, and the Castleman Quartet Program.

Andrew holds an MM from DePaul University where he studied with Brant Taylor and a BM from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he was a student of Melissa Kraut. When he is not playing the cello, Andrew can be found hiking, cooking new dishes, playing Contract Bridge, and drinking lots of coffee!