Aurora Mendez
Training Ensemble Teaching Artist (Violin)
Born and raised in New York City, violinist Aurora Mendez began her musical studies at the age of four with Professor Alexander Rees (Russia) at the Bronx House School of Music. After relocating to Santiago, Chile with her family, Mendez became part of the National Youth Orchestra Foundation of Chile. For six years she served as concertmaster for the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra, National Youth Orchestra, and the Orquesta de Camara del Teatro Municipal, as well as substitute violinist for the Chilean National Symphony, USACH, and other professional ensembles.
International engagements and festivals include tours with the Orchestra of the Americas, Spoleto, Schleswig Holstein, Marrowstone, Monteaux, and the Nextfest Music Festivals. Mendez has performed in masterclasses for Rachel Barton-Pine, Markus Stockhausen, Ingrid Zur, Pavo Jaarvi, Ani Kavafian, Martin Chalifour, and Dale Clevenger. Solo engagements include the New York City premiere of “Transparencia,” Sonata for Violin and Piano by Jeff Scott at the Imani Winds Festival, and the New Jersey premiere of “A Great Light” by Martin Sedek with the Choral Arts Society of New Jersey.
A passionate advocate for music education, Mendez has taught extensively across the United States and the Americas as an Orchestra of the Americas Global LeaderFellow, serving as violin faculty for residencies in El Salvador, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. She is the lead teaching artist with the SOPAC Instrumental Residency in Orange, NJ, and violin faculty at Music Mentors Collaborative NYC.
Mendez performs regularly as guest concertmaster with City Lyric Opera and is a member of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and the Latin Orchestra of Europe (Frankfurt, Germany). She holds a bachelor’s degree and a performer’s certificate in violin performance from the Cali School of Music at Montclair State University under the tutelage of Professor Mary Ann Mumm.