Philadelphia-area native Shannon Merlino began violin lessons at nine years of age. Immediately upon receiving her rental instrument (and before having had a lesson), she declared that she would become a professional musician, and the rest, as they say, was history. Dr. Merlino completed her Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance at Rutgers University as a student of Matthew Reichert and Lenuta Ciulei. She received her Master of Music degree in violin performance as a scholarship student at the Mannes College of Music as a student of Lewis Kaplan, and in 2012 she completed coursework at Rutgers University for her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in violin performance in the studio of Mikhail Kopelman. Soon after completing studies at Rutgers, she was invited to play for a freelance orchestra job – but on viola. Much like when she picked up the violin for the first time, she had a gut feeling and knew that it was time to make the switch, ultimately earning a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in viola performance from Temple University as a student of Kerri Ryan.
Her work as both performer and academic has taken her to perform and present in venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kimmel Center, and the Library of Congress. She enjoys researching a wide range of musical topics, most notably violin/viola technique and also musical exoticism, on which she wrote her doctoral monograph (and which she cautions people not to ask her about, unless they have plenty of free time to listen and perhaps plenty of coffee). She performs regularly as a soloist and chamber musician, having appeared as a soloist with the Old York Road Symphony, the Temple University Symphony, the Temple University Contemporary Ensemble, and others, as well as having presented a series of solo recitals in the Tri-State area. She also performs regularly as a member and substitute with several area orchestras, including Vox Ama Deus, the Bay Atlantic Symphony, Opera Philadelphia, the Curtis Symphony, and Symphony in C.
She is passionate about violin and viola pedagogy as well. In addition to being a member of the Temple University faculty, she serves as a strings coach for the Symphony in C Youth Orchestra, teaches strings classes for Symphony in C’s collaboration with Catholic Partnership Schools and the Catto School in Camden, NJ, and maintains an active private teaching studio. Dr. Merlino also is a RYT-500 trained yoga teacher and a dedicated practitioner: having spent many years teaching Ashtanga yoga, her teaching and practice often influence her strings teaching. When not practicing, performing, teaching, or on her yoga mat, she can usually be found engaging with one of her many interests – plants, cats, books, videogames, and nature.
Dr. Merlino performs on a viola made by Giovanni Pallaver in Verona, Italy, in 1952, and a bow made for the Hill Workshop in London, England, by Malcolm Taylor. She is eternally grateful to her luthiers, John Safian and Duana George of Wamsley Violins in Haddonfield, NJ, who not only put up with her perfectionism with her instruments, but manage to exceed her expectations with every adjustment.