Faculty

Profile

Bridget Kinneary enjoys an international career as an orchestral conductor, music director, educator, violist, and collaborative artist. After winning a Fulbright grant to Germany in 2016 to pursue research in music education, she held positions as music director and site coordinator for Mit Mach Musik e.V, an El-Sistema-inspired initiative in Berlin, Germany from 2016-2022, as well as that of music teacher, head of secondary school music, and orchestra director at Berlin Cosmopolitan School. She is the recipient of the 2018 Jürgen Mulert Award for mutual understanding for her dedicated work with youth ensembles in Berlin. Collecting global perspectives on music teaching and learning is important to Bridget. Consequently, she appeared as a guest conductor for the Harare Youth Orchestra in Zimbabwe, the National Youth Orchestra of Belize, El Sistema Sweden in Gothenburg, the Köpenick Bläsorchester, and El Sistema Whangārei in Northland, New Zealand. She participated in conducting masterclasses with Kristjan Järvi in Tartu, Estonia, and Sasha Mälakiä in Helsinki, Finland. As a violist, Bridget has a particular interest in contemporary works and cross-disciplinary projects. She has premiered works for viola at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg, the Eastman School of Music, and in 2017, she co-curated and performed a show for viola and dance featuring the Music of Bach and Alan Terricciano at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. In 2019, she collaborated with young composers in the OPUS 1 project of the Berlin Philharmonic Education Department and performed in the “Kurt Murks Trash Robot” family concert series alongside members of the Berlin Philharmonic. Bridget holds Bachelor’s degrees in both Music Education and Viola Performance from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with violist George Taylor. She also holds MBA focused in Arts Innovations from the Global Leaders Institute. In 2024, she will graduate with an additional Master's Degree in Orchestral Conducting from the Aaron Copland School of Music. In her spare time, Bridget likes to learn tunes on the ganjo (guitar/banjo) and visit supermarkets in foreign countries.