Violist Dana Kelley, praised for her rich and beautiful tone, has been a top prizewinner in the
Sphinx Music Competition, the Irving M. Klein International String Competition, the M-Prize
Chamber Arts Competition and Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition. She is a
member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble.
Dana is also on the faculty of the Mannes School of Music.
Dana’s performance schedule has brought her to many prestigious venues and festivals, including
multiple recitals at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Recital Hall at New York’s Kauffman
Center for the Performing Arts, the Koch Theater, the Ravinia Festival, and Bravo! Vail. Dana
has collaborated with artists such as Ralph Kirshbaum, Nobuko Imai and Miriam Fried, pianists
Leon Fleisher, Anne-Marie MacDermott and Misha Dichter, and Astrid Schween of the Juilliard
String Quartet.
Dana was a 2014-2016 Fellow in Ensemble Connect – a performance and teaching program of
Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and The Weill Music Institute. She received her Bachelor’s
of Music from the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University, studying violin with Cornelia
Heard and viola with Kathryn Plummer, and completed her Master’s of Music degree at the New
England Conservatory as a student of Kim Kashkashian. Dana received an Artist Diploma in
String Quartet Studies with the Argus String Quartet as the 2017-2019 Graduate Quartet in
Residence at The Juilliard School.
