Anna Brown, violin
Union organizer by day, violinist by night (okay, not every night). Anna grew up in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, started playing violin at about five years old, and is a proud graduate of a Suzuki violin camp (a method for teaching very young players). “I also played some Irish fiddle music with my Dad.” She played in her school orchestras from elementary through high school. Then wanderlust hit and she was off! First stop, the West Coast.
Anna attended Whitman College, a liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington (please say that three times fast!), with a major in Politics and a minor in Music, playing in the orchestra and in a quartet. Right after graduating, she got a job as a union labor rep and organizer for the California Nurses Association. Although the group is based in Oakland, Anna traveled constantly for years and even lived short term in North Carolina, Texas, and Florida, helping nurses organize and join unions. But she’s now working here as a labor rep for nurses at UCSF hospitals.
Finally based fulltime in Oakland, Anna went searching for an orchestra. She played with the Awesöme Orchestra (an ad hoc orchestra with open reading sessions and special events) and met other members of Prometheus. Voilá! “It’s a lot of fun to play with people who really want to practice and rehearse every week—it’s serious but fun. I enjoy the variety of music and that we have a lot of chances to perform.” And we really like that Anna’s travels have ended right here—so we can play with her!
~ Joyce Vollmer
