B i o g r a p h y
A native of Toronto, Desiree Abbey has appeared as soloist with the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, the Guelph Symphony Orchestra, and the National Repertory Orchestra. As an orchestral musician, she has toured Europe with the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestral Academy, played at Carnegie Hall with the New York String Orchestra Seminar and served as Assistant Principal cellist for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra for the 2011-2012 season.
Desiree is an active performer, currently appearing as Principal Cellist with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and extra musician with the National Arts Centre Orchestra. Desiree holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music with Desmond Hoebig, and both a Master of Music Degree and Professional Studies Diploma from Mannes College The New School for Music with Timothy Eddy.
Desiree is a passionate music educator! She feels blessed to work with wonderful children in the Orkidstra program and runs a private home studio as a registered Suzuki cello teacher. As a Suzuki child herself, she has pursued Suzuki Teacher Training, completing Every Child Can and Units 1-4 with Dr. Melissa Kraut in long-term training at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Unit 5 with Carol Tarr at the Chicago Suzuki Institute and Unit 6 with Avi Friedlander of the Chicago Institute of Music. Committed to continually improving her pedagogy, she has undergone Music Mind Games Unit 1 with Michiko Yurko and is always seeking opportunities for Professional Development. She has previously has taught as a sessional instructor of cello and chamber music for the University of Manitoba, Canadian Mennonite University and Brandon University, as well as for the Brooklyn Queens Conservatory of Music and Brooklyn College Preparatory Division.
Desiree has worked in Masterclass setting for Steven Doane, Timothy Eddy, Desmond Hoebig, Hans Jorgen Jensen, John Kadz, Ralph Kirshbaum, Eileen Moon, Alan Stepansky, Ronald Thomas, Uri Vardi, Christine Walevska, Thomas Wieve and Jeffrey Ziegler.
An avid chamber musician, Desiree has fond memories from her time at the Cleveland Institute of Music in the Intensive Quartet Seminar working with the Cavani Quartet and Peter Salaff. She has performed in Chamber Music Masterclass for the Biava, Borromeo, Brentano, Cavani, Orion, Takács and Tokyo Quartets, Nancy Dahn, Miriam Fried, Matt Haimovitz, Paul Hersh, Werner Hink, Sarah Rothenberg, Peter Salaff, Tim Steeves, and Steven Tenenbom.
Summers were spent at various music festivals including Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Beijing International Music Festival, National Repertory Orchestra, Music Academy of the West, Schlesswig-Holstein Orchestral Academy and National Summer Cello Institute.
During her time in Winnipeg, Desiree served as Secretary for the Manitoba Violoncello Society and also served on the board of directors of the Agassiz Chamber Music Festival. Visit http://www.agassizfestival.com for more information.
When she is not playing or teaching the cello, Desiree enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband Chris Lee and their two children.