Anne Leyland, a native of Pensacola, Florida, began her violin studies at the age of six with Anna Tringas, a former pupil of the late Ivan Galamian. She continued her studies at the Meadowmount School of Music, Louisiana State University, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and Carnegie- Mellon University, where she obtained her Bachelor of Music degree with honors. Among her teachers was the late Fritz Siegal, former concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
Mrs. Leyland has performed as soloist with the Pensacola Symphony, Ft. Myers Symphony, Congress of Strings Orchestra, and the Louisiana State University Orchestra. While in Pittsburgh, she performed as first violinist in numerous orchestras, including the Pittsburgh Opera and Ballet Orchestra, and was first violinist with the Mezzanine String Quartet. Currently, Ms. Leyland is the Concertmaster of both the Durham and Tar River Symphonies, and is a first violinist with the North Carolina Opera. In addition to performing regularly with the Fayetteville Symphony, Ms Leyland has enjoyed performing in such North Carolina groups as the Charleston, Savannah, Charlotte, and North Carolina Symphonies. She has appeared in concert with numerous classical music legends such as Joshua Bell, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Pinchas Zuckerman, Lynn Harrell, Itzhak Perlman, Andre Watts and Luciano Pavarotti. Pop music has always interested Ms. Leyland and she has enjoyed sharing the stage with Jerry Lewis, Rod Stewart, Smokey Robinson, Natalie Cole, The Moody Blues, and many more.
Among her faculty appointments have been positions with Chatham College and Arts in the Parks in Pittsburgh, and she has maintained an active private studio since 1984. She is the Instructor of Violin at Saint Mary’s School, where she also directs the String Ensemble. Ms. Leyland joined the faculty of Ravenscroft School in 2008 as an Instructor of Violin, and was named an Artist in Residence in 2015.
