Magnolia Rohrer

Detroit-based violinist and violist Magnolia “Meg” Rohrer (they/them/she/her) specializes in new and experimental chamber music.  In addition to being the violinist in Hub New Music, Magnolia is also the violinist and violist in Virago, a Michigan/Melbourne based quartet whose projects imagine new spaces in improvised chamber music. An avid String Quartet performer, Magnolia is a former member of the award-winning Converge String Quartet and a current member of the Neptune String Quartet. Magnolia is an active orchestral musician in violin and viola sections in Michigan and Alabama. Solo concerto engagements include the National Chinese Orchestra Taiwan in Taipei, Taiwan, the Thailand International Composer Festival in Mahidol, Thailand. They are a committed member of the Detroit experimental music scene, and their current solo project is a piece for solo viola with fixed media exploring microtonal polyphony.

As an educator, Magnolia has trained in the Suzuki method and is influenced by the pedagogies of Mimi Zweig, Mark Mutter, Marilyn O’Boyle, Blair Milton, Danielle Belen, and Ed Sarath. Magnolia has taught through the Sphinx Organization, Crescendo Detroit, the Crowden Music Center in Berkeley, CA, the Ann Arbor Public Schools camp at Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Àkójọpò Music Festival, The People’s Music School in Chicago, and the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra summer workshop. Rohrer has led free improvisation workshops in Detroit, Flint, Ypsilanti, and Interlochen.

Magnolia earned their masters degree at the University of Michigan studying with Danielle Belen and Caroline Coade, and holds a bachelors degree from Northwestern University where they studied with Blair Milton.  In their free time, Magnolia enjoys baking sourdough bread and swimming on Belle Isle.