Meet the Artists

Artistic and Executive Director
Allyson Cohen
Allyson Cohen is a violinist passionate about outreach and engagement. It is her belief that music should be accessible to everyone without the formalities and barriers of the concert hall that inspired the creation of CMOC. Also an advocate for contemporary music and the inclusion of underrepresented composers to the standard canon of repertoire, she is excited to bring this music to the audiences of all CMOC performances. Allyson is currently studying with Professor Danielle Belen of the University of Michigan. Allyson holds a bachelor's degree from the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings of Mercer University. She studied there with distinguished artists Amy Moretti, David Kim, and Robert McDuffie. Allyson has given solo recitals at Carnegie Hall as well as the Kimmel Center. She has performed as a substitute for the Philadelphia Orchestra, and has played under the baton of renowned conductors Marin Alsop, Simon Rattle, and Yannick Nezet Seguin, and Stèphane Denéve. Allyson has acted as one of the concertmasters for the Macon-Mercer Symphony. She has attended Summer festivals such as The National Repertory Orchestra, NYO-USA, Bowdoin International Music Festival, The Manchester Music Festival, The Chautauqua Institute. In 2021 Allyson was named a young artist at Rome Chamber Music Festival. Allyson has had the privilege of taking lessons and masterclasses with James Ehnes, Miriam Fried, Catherine Cho, Donald Weilerstein, Cho Liang Lin, and Kathleen Winkler, among others. Allyson has collaborated with renowned musicians such as Lisa Batiashvili, Clive Greensmith, David Kim, and Robert McDuffie, Victoria Chiang, as well as with members of the Borromeo, Emerson, Ehnes, and Tokyo string quartets. She has also appeared in concerts alongside members of R.E.M, The Rolling Stones, and the Allman Brothers. Allyson has appeared on NPR’s From the Top and has recorded for SiruisXm and PBS.

Performing Artist
Jolie Rebelo
Jolie Rebelo is a 22 year old violinist from New York and began studying at the age of nine. As a current student of Danielle Belen, she is studying at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance, where she holds the Stuart and Jane Sheill Scholarship. She began her studies with Steven Behr, working with Xiang Gao as a Freshman during her undergraduate studies, continuing to earn her bachelors while studying with Elicia Silverstein at the University of Delaware, where she was named a Distinguished Music Scholar for four years. In May of 2021, Jolie was awarded The Edward G. and Naomi L. Jefferson Prize in Music, continuing on to perform Ravel's Tzigane with the university orchestra as a concerto competition winner. Jolie has had numerous opportunities to perform at world renowned halls, including Carnegie Hall and Kodak Theater, where she served as the concertmaster and soloist of the NY All-State Symphony. In 2020, Jolie attended the virtual rendition of the Brisighella Summer Music Academy, directed by Elicia Silverstein, as well as the Virtuosi Virtual Summer Academy, where she studied with Ryan Meehan of the Calidore String Quartet. Jolie has worked with and performed in masterclasses for acclaimed musicians such as Philip Setzer, Simon James, Mayumi Kanagawa, Alexander Yudkovsky and Lisa Ferguson. In 2021, she attended Center Stage Strings, directed by Danielle Belen, where she had the privilege of being featured in a Young Artists Concert, performing Prokofiev’s Solo Sonata for Violin. More recently, Jolie received a full scholarship to attend Sounding Point Academy, directed by Robert Lipsett and Fabiola Kim at the Colburn School. Aside from being a performer, Jolie has had the opportunity to work alongside the American Composers Orchestra and the teams of WQXR and the Apollo Theater in several community engagement events, leading up to their final performance to be held at Apollo, The Gathering, which promotes advocacy, diversity and inclusion of African American culture through the arts. This past January, Jolie served as a Recording Engineer Assistant and Consultant of MLK- Activism and the Arts, which was broadcasted on WNYC radio. The following month, she served as a Production Associate for the performance of Deep River: Black Currents in Classical Music, broadcasted on WQXR from the Greene Space.

Performing Artist
Anda Jiang
Anda Jiang is a violinist from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Throughout high school, Jiang performed as concertmaster for ensembles such as the Michigan Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Pioneer High School Symphony Orchestra. She has attended a multitude of summer festivals such as Bowdoin International Music Festival, Sounding Point Academy, Encore Chamber Music Institute and Center Stage Strings. In 2020, Jiang and her peers formed The Quartet Frederick, and were honored as the first place chamber ensemble by the Michigan String Teachers Association. In 2022 she performed as a concerto soloist in the Pioneer Orchestras Concerto Competition. Jiang is pursuing her studies at the University of Michigan, School of Music, Theater and Dance under the direction of Professor Danielle Belen.

Performing Artist
Bethlehem Kelley
Bethlehem Kelley is an Ethiopian American violinist from Lenexa, Kansas. She is currently a Junior at the University of Michigan where she studies violin performance with Danielle Belen. Betti was awarded first prize in the Kansas City Symphony Young Artist Competition and has soloed with the Midwest Chamber Ensemble as well as the Kansas City Civic Orchestra. This spring she will be performing the first movement of the Sibelius Violin Concerto in D Minor with the Rochester Symphony Orchestra. Some of her fondest musical memories include spending summers as a member of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States, studying at the Sphinx Performance Academy, and attending Center Stage Strings. Prior to college, she was a student of Kristin Velicer and Alice Joy Lewis.

Performing Artist
Kathryn Moran
Violist Kate Moran, 23, is currently pursuing a double Masters of Music in Performance and Chamber Music at the University of Michigan in the studio of Caroline Coade. She obtained her bachelors of Music at the University of Ottawa studying under Michael van der Sloot, having previously studied with Victoria Chiang and Choong-Jin Chang at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. Kate has played with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, Victoria Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Philharmonic Orchestra, Victoria Chamber Orchestra, Greater Victoria Youth Orchestra, Victoria Conservatory of Music Chamber Orchestra, and Peabody’s Symphony and Chamber Orchestras. Kate has also been privileged to play under world-renowned conductors such as Marin Alsop, Robert Spano, Hugh Wolff, amongst others. She has won numerous awards and scholarships performing in venues across North America, including the prestigious Roberto and Mary Wood Scholarship Competition, the largest performing arts scholarship in Canada awarded at a music festival, and being invited twice to perform at the National Arts Centre. Kate also won first prize at the BC Provincial Music Festival in both Senior Solo Strings and Senior Chamber Music and third prize in the National category. An avid chamber musician, Kate has collaborated with world-renowned artists such as Axel Strauss, Nicholas Kitchen, Fabiola Kim, Elbert Tsai, Jethro Marks, Paul Marleyn, Rachel Mercer, and Leo Singer. She has been a soloist with multiple orchestras in her hometown and has worked with distinguished faculty such as Kim Kashkashian, Pinchas Zukerman, Colin Carr, Misha Amory, Robert Vernon, Jeffrey Irvine, Philip Setzer, Atar Arad, Nicholas Kitchen, and Martha Katz. Kate has attended Aspen Music Festival, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, Heifetz International Music Institute, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Center Stage Strings, Orford Music Academy, National Arts Centre’s Young Artists Program, Online Solo Strings Intensive, and Pacific Region International Summer Music Academy. Kate is adopted from Cambodia, grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and currently resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Performing Artist
Anna Black
Anna Black is a graduate student of violin performance at the University of Michigan studying under Professor Fabiola Kim. Anna graduated from the McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University in 2021 as a student of Amy Moretti, David Kim, and Robert McDuffie. Anna started studying the violin at age 7 in her hometown of Eagle, Idaho. Anna has served as concertmaster of the Lansing Symphony, University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, Adrian Symphony Orchestra, Brevard Sinfonia, McDuffie Center for Strings Ensemble, Boise Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, the Sun Valley Summer Symphony Youth Orchestra, and the Idaho All-State Orchestra, as principal second violin of the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, and as assistant concertmaster of the Aspen Festival Orchestra, as well as being a member of NYO-USA for two summers and a member of the Ann Arbor Symphony. Anna has soloed with the Brevard Music Festival Orchestra, Boise Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, the Meridian Symphony Orchestra, and the Idaho Civic Symphony and performed alongside players such as Robert McDuffie, Lawrence Dutton, and the Cavani String Quartet. This summer Anna served as co-concertmaster of the National Repertory Orchestra as well as being a featured soloist with the ensemble. Anna performs on a violin by Camillo Camili, courtesy of Darnton and Hersh Fine Violins and Guarneri Hall NFP in Chicago.