Today I am talking to cellist Alana Chown. She has supplemented her career as professional cellist and music teacher by training as a speech pathologist. In our chat we talk about the similarities between the need for paying attention to detail both in music and speech pathology. Alana speaks enthusiastically about the joy of connecting with the world through music and speech, also highlights the importance to create a livelihood that would sustain you in the emergencies that life can bring across your path.
Alana Chown (cello): B.M (Ithaca College) and M.M (University of Michigan). Alana was previously a faculty member of the String Academy of Wisconsin at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. At the String Academy, she provided high-quality individual and group cello instruction, acted as a guest lecturer in cello pedagogy, directed the summer chamber music festival, and coordinated the Urban Students in the Arts Outreach Cello Program. As a freelance performer and teacher, Alana was the principal cellist of the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra, an Artist-in-Residence at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Milwaukee, taught for multiple summers at Ithaca College's Summer Music Academy and maintained a thriving private teaching studio. Currently, Alana is performing as a substitute with Symphony New Hampshire and is a faculty member at the Concord Community Music School. In collaboration with pianist Elena Abend, Alana recorded and released her solo debut album Paper Moon in 2015 which can be found on Spotify and iTunes.
In conjunction with cello playing, Alana graduated from Marquette University in 2016 with a M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology. She currently works with preschool aged children in the Windham School District serving a diverse group of students in both individual and group settings.
Hear Alana play the cello here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmXWTjYz2r8