Connie Heard

Valere Blair Potter Professor of Violin Cornelia Heard teaches at the Blair School of Music, Vanderbilt University. She has served on the artist faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and School since 2005 and is a member of the Blair String Quartet, with whom she has toured extensively throughout the United States. Her work has been recorded on labels including Naxos, Innova, Warner Reprise, New World, Blue Griffin, and Pantheon.

Ms. Heard has performed and taught at festivals in Guangzhou, China; Santiago, Chile; Loja, Ecuador; Italy; and Iceland. She has performed at renowned venues including the Library of Congress, the Kennedy Center, New York’s 92nd Street Y, Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, and Carnegie Hall.

Dedicated to nurturing the next generation of musical talent, Ms. Heard has given masterclasses across the U.S. and in China and South America. Her students have been prizewinners in national and international competitions and former students hold university teaching positions and orchestral chairs, and participate in a wide variety of professional endeavors.

Ms. Heard attended the Juilliard School, where she earned both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees, and Sarah Lawrence College where she received a bachelor’s degree. She studied violin with Dorothy DeLay and chamber music with Robert Mann, Felix Galimir, Earl Carlyss, Samuel Rhodes, Ruth Laredo, and Jan DeGaetani.