Education: Cellist Ann West is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Oberlin College & Conservatory. Her principal teachers include Mischa Schneider of the Budapest Quartet, Paul Katz of the Cleveland Quartet, and George Neikrug in Boston. She is a certified experienced Suzuki Cello Instructor. Ann’s teaching is enhanced by a lifelong interest in psychology. She is an Integrative Transformation Life Coach, informed by graduate work in Depth Psychology: Jungian and Archetypal Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute, with further study to become a MARI Mandala Practitioner and certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach.” Learn more at IntegrativeTransformation.solutions.

Cello Instruction: Ann offers individual and group instruction to people of all ages and levels in her private studio in Guilford, integrating the best of her traditional classical training with the Suzuki Method. She is happy to teach anyone drawn to the sound of the cello who is eager to learn and committed to practice.

Music Performance: Ann has enjoyed a rich and varied career as an orchestral player with the Stamford, New Haven & Bridgeport Symphonies; performed as a soloist and chamber music musician throughout CT with the Twylyte Trio (oboe, flute, cello), School for Strings Piano Trio, and Cello & Piano Duos. Before taking a sabbatical to study Depth Psychology, Ann was principal cellist at Goodspeed Opera House, and performed with Opera Theater of CT and Salt Marsh Opera. She currently freelances, plays chamber music for the love of it, and maintains a thriving private cello studio in Guilford.

Arts Outreach: Inspired with a mission to build community and enrich family life through Arts Education, Ann was Founding Director of Tabor Community Arts Center (1995-2000), employing a faculty of fifty artist-teachers in five departments: music, dance, visual arts, drama, and creative writing. She co-founded the Shoreline School for Strings in 2003. Her ongoing preschool Music & Movement Program, Teddy Bear Rhythms, has fostered musical fluency and been a “rite of passage” for scores of children. Her students’ Winter and Spring Cello-brations take place in retirement homes and rehab centers to reach audiences that cannot get out to concerts.