As a violinist, Skye walks many lines between art music, folk music, contemporary classical music, opera and film music, and solo work.
To her, music is a holistic pursuit, where there is always a learning opportunity to be found in a different perspective than her own. While the bulk of her artistic output is primarily in Western classical music, she is equally at home in a Cuban danzón orchestra, a Scottish trad band, an Argentine tango ensemble or with a Norwegian hardingfele. Skye also plays viola, and performs on both violin and viola in chamber music settings.
Skye has recorded an entirely improvised album, Phasmid, with mixed-media artist Roger Alsop, available on Bandcamp, as well as contributed to several tracks on both violin and viola to the Under Your Bed and Time Prisoner albums from melodic metal band Moran Magal. These are available on Bandcamp, Spotify and Soundcloud. She also contributed to the first-ever recording of David Diamond’s Symphony No. 6, available on the Naxos label.
Her recent musical highlights include performing in the opera orchestra at the Dutch National Opera and Ballet for their original production “Operetta Land,” a tour of Croatia, Italy and Switzerland with a young persons’ string orchestra, and a concert in Belgium with Moran Magal. Professionally, you can find Skye as a freelance classical violinist in orchestras, as a chamber music coach or youth orchestra assistant, as a recitalist with her colleagues or as an ELDOA & musicians’ mindful movement teacher. She recently joined the Neues Kammerorchester Berlin, a newly established chamber orchestra dedicated to showcasing underrepresented composers and working with female conductors to increase their visibility in the industry.
Her approach to music is heavily influenced by her experiences overcoming a recurring overuse injury in her teenage years. The multi-year recovery process led her to become an ELDOA I trainer and ignited a lifelong passion for musicians’ wellness. She strongly believes musicians must view themselves in all aspects as humans first, musicians second to form sustainable, meaningful expression.
Her journey in becoming a two-time expat has also informed her art, perspective, and performances. Originally from the US, she lived in Germany, then the Netherlands, and has now settled again in Germany. These experiences have fundamentally shaped her as a person and musician. She occasionally writes about her life in the musings that form the content for the Notes from the Skye blog.
In addition to her musical endeavors, Skye runs her own business as a writer and translator, also under the moniker Notes from the Skye. Her writing work primarily consists of profiling artistic students, professors or researchers and their projects, and she also writes for fun.
Skye holds a Master of Music in Classical Violin and a Certificate in Curatorial Practices in Music from ArtEZ University of the Arts, as well as a Performer Diploma and Bachelor of Music from Indiana University Bloomington.