Mari De Napoli

Mari De Napoli, a Los Angeles native, began playing violin at age 4, studying with Karla Berglund-Hughes at the Pasadena Suzuki Music Program and continued her pre-college studies at The Colburn School of Music. She completed her undergraduate degree at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music, earning the Herb Alpert Foundation scholarship. There she studied with Guillaume Sutre, Ji Young An, and Varty Manouelian. She recently completed her Masters degree at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music in June 2023, studying with Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Blair Milton.

Mari has enjoyed a multi-faceted performance career that includes holding principal and concertmaster positions with the UCLA Philharmonia, Colburn orchestras, and most currently the American Youth Symphony’s 1st violin section. An avid lover of chamber music, she has performed both locally around Los Angeles and globally in France, Russia, Finland, and Estonia. Presently, Mari is building her studio throughout the suburban Chicago area. She has taught students of all ages and abilities and aims to highlight the joy that learning music brings. Music has been a foundation in all facets of her life, teaching her life-long skills such as tenacity, patience, and a love for music and she hopes to share that with her students.

In her spare time, Mari is a voracious reader of fiction, an avid hiker, and an enthusiastic plant mom.