Melanie Akau, violin

Melanie Akau was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico where she began Suzuki violin lessons at the age of 7 and studied privately with Jane Soyka and Marilyn O'Boyle. In high school she was a member of the Albuquerque Youth Symphony for four years and toured southern NM, TX, CA, AZ, Chihuahua - Mexico, and Spain.

In 2008 at The University of Texas at Austin (Hook 'Em Horns!), Melanie graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Performance from the studio of Professor Brian Lewis. She received her Doctor of Optometry (O.D.) degree from the University of California - Berkeley in 2012 and recently completed a residency in Ocular Disease and Primary Care at the West Roxbury Veterans Affairs Hospital. Melanie is currently an Optometrist and Research Fellow at the Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury VA Hospitals.
 

Since relocating to the east coast, Melanie has played with the MIT Summer Symphony, MetroWest Opera, and is excited to be a member of the Brookline Symphony Orchestra.