Ash Mach
Violin, Viola
Violist and researcher Ash Mach (b. 1998) is pursuing an MM in viola performance and an MA in music theory at the University of Denver Lamont School of Music. They earned their BM with honors in viola performance at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2020. Their musical interests revolve around contemporary music theory and performance practice, the intersection between music and social justice, and cross-cultural communication through music.
Most recently, Ash traveled to Toronto, Ontario to present an analysis and performance of Rebecca Saunders’s Dialogue for viola and percussion at the “Dialogues: Analysis and Performance Workshop and Conference.” In May 2021, they presented research “Microformal Transformations to Create Macroform in Tristan Murail’s C’est Un Jardin Secret” at the Lamont Quarterly Research Colloquium and the Mountain-Plains Music Library Association Conference. They studied contemporary music theory in Paris, France in 2019 through a partnership with the Eastman School of Music and IRCAM and in June 2022 will present at the American Viola Society Conference as an Emerging Researcher, and in August 2022 will present at the Filipino-American National Historical Society Conference. Since fall 2020, they have served as a teaching assistant in music theory and a research assistant in ethnomusicology at Lamont.
As an educator, Ash is a violin and piano instructor at New Cottage Arts, a teaching fellow at El Sistema Colorado, and will serve as a group violin instructor for Augustana Arts in May 2022. Past teaching experience includes assistant violin teacher at Fairview Elementary School in Bloomington, IN; practice helper at Indiana University String Academy; and viola instructor for Through the Staff. Ash also tutors AP and college-level music theory.
Ash is the violist of the Nebula Ensemble, an award-winning experimental music ensemble in Denver; section violist of the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra; and violist of the Lamont Modern Music Ensemble. They serve as principal violist for the Lamont Symphony Orchestra, placed runner-up in the 2021 Lamont Chamber Music Competition, and performed at the 2021 annual Lamont Showcase Gala. Festival appearances include the Orford Music Academy, Montreal Contemporary Music Lab, SPLICE Institute, Longy Divergent Workshop, Music Academy International, LyricaFest, and the Castleman Quartet Program. Their mentors include violists Basil Vendryes and Steve Wyrczynski and academics Sean Friar, Aleysia Whitmore, and Marquisha Scott.
Classes taught by Ash:
Private Lessons (all ages): Violin, Viola