Alayne Wegner is a freelance violinist, teacher, and arts administrator based in Columbus, Ohio. Her creative yet detail-oriented approach to the violin translates into passionate and dynamic performances, engaging and effective teaching, and organized and deliberate arts administration. A recent graduate from Kenyon College (’17) with a dual degree in Music and Sociology, Wegner holds such achievements as the Thomas B. and Mary M. Greenslade Award for Music Performance, the first place prize in the Collegiate Division of the Young Musicians Competition with the Knox County Symphony, and Distinction in Music for her senior comprehensive exercise. Since graduating in May, Wegner has become the newest board member of the Knox County Symphony, built up a sizable studio of violin students, and continues to perform regularly across Central Ohio.

"Alayne is a beautiful player and an intelligent musician. She embraces challenging repertoire and performs it with conviction, emotion and great attention to detail. She always thinks for herself and is a person of integrity. It has been only a pleasure to know her as an excellent violin student and a lovely person!”  — Ariane Sletner, Adjunct Instructor of Violin at Kenyon College, Columbus Symphony Violinist

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PERFORMER | INSTRUCTOR | ADMINISTRATOR

A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Wegner began playing the violin when she was five years old. Throughout her adolescence, she studied the Suzuki Method of Violin with violin teachers Gretchen Weaver and Diane Ronda. In High School, Wegner studied with teacher Haijin Choi, who provided a detail-oriented approach to the violin, improving her technique, musicality, and discipline. Throughout this time, she participated in multiple local youth orchestras: the St. Cecilia Concert Orchestra and Philharmonic, the Grand Rapids Youth Classical Orchestra, and the Grand Rapids Youth Symphony. Wegner also founded a quartet with fellow young musicians of the Grand Rapids Symphony, the Four Suite Strings.

Upon coming to Kenyon College as a recipient of the prestigious Music Scholarship, Wegner quickly became known as an avid musician in the music department. After meeting fellow musicians David Hoyt (’14), Jeremy Fuller (’14), and Andrew Stewart (’15) in the Knox County Symphony, Wegner became a founding member of the Chase Quartet, a self-led student ensemble that prepared three full concerts and often played for school and community events. The ensemble became known across the campus and surrounding community as a “superb” ensemble, displaying “assiduous technicality,” “virtuosic clarity and composure,” and a “strong tendency toward teamwork.” [The Kenyon Collegian, “Quartet dazzles with tough pieces”]

During her time at Kenyon, Wegner also avidly pursued orchestral performance both on and off the college’s campus. Wegner performed in Knox County Symphony, conducted by Professor Ben Locke, and the New Albany Symphony, conducted by Luis Biava, for all four years of her collegiate career, as well as becoming a substitute player in the Newark-Granville Symphony her senior year. As such, Wegner demonstrated a commitment both to her orchestral experience and to community cultural development by playing concerts in many locations across Central Ohio.

At Kenyon College, she studied with violin teacher Ariane Sletner, who taught Wegner to face technical difficulty head on, to develop confidence in her ability to cultivate convincing interpretations of music, and to continuously strive for goals despite the challenges musicians face. Wegner’s solo repertoire led her to place into the Angela Waite Recital in both 2014 and 2015, a celebrated showcase recital of the Kenyon College Music Department. In the summer of 2014, she was accepted into the pre-professional orchestral program at the Philadelphia International Music Festival, studying with Philadelphia Orchestra members Kim Fisher and Daniel Han, and playing under Cristian Măcelaru, the conductor in residence of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Her junior year, she prepared a full recital, performing such pieces as the Bach Partita No. 2 in D Minor and the Fantasie for Violin and Harp with guest performer Lily McBride (’17). In the fall of her senior year, Wegner competed in the Knox County Young Musician’s Competition, winning first place in the college division, performing the First Movement of the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Knox County Symphony in February of 2017. In the culminating performance of her Kenyon career, Wegner performed the Grieg Violin Sonata No. 3 in C Minor, Arvo Pärt’s “Fratres,” and the entirety of the Sibelius Violin Concerto in D minor at her senior recital. Upon completion of her Senior Recital and music comprehensive exams, Wegner was awarded distinction in music as well as the Thomas B. and Mary M. Greenslade Award in Music Performance.

After graduating in May of 2017, Wegner planned for a summer at the Brevard Music Festival and Institute. She coordinated two benefit concerts and a full GoFundMe campaign to raise the funds necessary to attend the institute. For the first benefit concert, Wegner traveled back to her alma mater, East Grand Rapids Middle School and High School, to talk with Mary Hillyard’s orchestra students, performing solos and describing what it means to pursue a music career throughout college and beyond. She collaborated with the High School orchestra and played solo at a donation-based concert at the High School. The second benefit concert was a ticketed solo recital at Mayflower Congregational Church, where she grew up playing violin and singing in the children’s choirs for 14 years in her adolescence. Through these efforts, Wegner was able to successfully reach her goal and attend the Brevard Music Festival and Institute. For seven weeks, Wegner pursued orchestral and solo performance, learning new solo repertoire in preparation for Graduate School auditions. There she studied with Benjamin Sung, and worked with conductors Keith Lockhart and JoAnn Falletta.​

Currently, Wegner resides in Columbus, Ohio. She is the principal second violinist with the Knox County Symphony, she performs regularly with the New Albany Symphony Orchestra and the Newark Granville Symphony Orchestra, and plays for various private and public events throughout Central Ohio. The newest board member of the Knox County Symphony, Wegner combines her practical experience with music together with her compassion for community involvement and spreading musical education.

At Kenyon College, she studied with violin teacher Ariane Sletner, who taught Wegner to face technical difficulty head on, to develop confidence in her ability to cultivate convincing interpretations of music.

Wegner has demonstrated a commitment both to her orchestral experience and to community cultural development by playing concerts in many locations across Central Ohio.