Danae is a 17 year old violinist currently based in Philadelphia, PA. She started playing the violin at 6 years old, fascinated with the high tones the instrument made. She began her studies with Danielle Weems-Elliott (Newport News, VA), Marianne Richter-Menger (Exton, PA), and currently studies privately with Mitchell Newman (Philadelphia, PA). Danae is a member of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra and the Youth Chamber Orchestra of Temple Music Prep’s Center for Gifted Young Musicians. A member of the Philadelphia Music Alliance for Youth Artists’ Initiative since 2022, she has participated in masterclasses with artists like Randall Goosby, Juliette Kang, and Curtis Stewart.
In 2023, she was awarded a Dreamer Instrument Access Program grant from the Black Violin Foundation and participated in The Credo Festival at Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio. In the summer of 2024, she was accepted into the Sphinx Performance Academy (SPA) at The Juilliard School of Music, working with Thierry de Lucas Neves, and will return to SPA in summer 2025. She will also participate in Ascent International Chamber Music Festival in 2025. She was the 1st place gold medal winner of the NAACP Philadelphia Branch’s 2024 ACT-SO competition. She also received a grant from the Equity Arc Instrument Fund in 2025. Danae is involved in serving her community by performing and volunteering at her church, for community events, in senior communities, and a local community youth center. Danae dreams of a career as an accomplished chamber musician with a group that performs and travels often. Her favorite pastimes are singing, listening to true crime podcasts, photography, cooking, chess, and cuddling with her two cats.