Naima Burrs, M.M., is a violinist and conductor from Richmond, VA. Burrs studied at the University of Northern Iowa where she received a Master of Music degree in violin performance while serving as a Graduate Assistant during her studies. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music from Virginia Commonwealth University(VCU). Naima was featured as a guest on NPR’s show “With Good Reason”, where she discussed her upbringing and career, and performed works celebrating the contributions of African American composers and musicians.
She was one of four conductors chosen to participate in the 2021 Wintergreen Music Festival, as a Summit Conductor, where she worked with master teachers James Ross and Erin Freeman. In July of 2022, Burrs was selected as a participant in the Conducting Academy of the Domaine Forget International Music Festival (Québec, Canada), where she studied with Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin, music director of the Metropolitan Opera House.
During the 2021-22 season, she served as conductor of the Hopkins Concert Orchestra and the assistant conductor of the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. In January of 2022, Naima was appointed Music Director of the Petersburg Symphony Orchestra in Petersburg, Virginia. In August of 2022, Burrs joined the Faculty at the University of Richmond, serving as conductor of the University of Richmond Symphony Orchestra.
Burrs is a full-time instructor of violin and conducting at Virginia State University (Petersburg, VA). She has also served on the faculty at Longwood University (Farmville, VA) and Hampden-Sydney College (Hampden Sydney, VA). Naima is a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree (D.M.A.) candidate in instrumental conducting at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
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