Amy is from Garrison, Iowa. It was an arts community in the 1970s, when she was born. Her mother is a jeweler, and her father was a guitarist who did gig work. Amy was exposed to music from the womb. When she got a little older, she played flute alongside her father. They often performed in nursing homes. As an adult, she gave piano lessons.

Amy became a nurse, but has kept music in her life, playing piano and violin for her patients over the years. Amy has been a nurse for 30 years and still works at Wesley Medical Center 2 days a week. She finds connections between music and caring for the dynamic and beautiful human body.

Amy took up violin at age 40 as a lark. Her teachers were violists, and one of them, Wichita Symphony violist Rosemarie Barney, told her she would make a better violist than violinist because she had “a violist personality.” Amy took up viola at age 45 and has pursued it with enthusiasm and joy. Her primary teachers have been Lillian Green at Friends University, Ricardo Cavalcante of the Wichita Symphony, and Reuben Balboa at Wichita State University.

Amy has played viola with Friends University Symphony Orchestra and Wichita State University Symphony Orchestra. She continues to play violin with a local Irish jam group on occasion.

She has been able to go to college, both for nursing and for viola, with the support of scholarships because of her good grades and consistent hard work.

Amy is currently working on arranging a viola version of “Hide and Seek” by Imogene Heap and looks forward to performing it. She enjoys collaborating with other musicians, and feels this is where she shines the most.