About Me
About Me
Violinist Akili Farrow began her studies in Play On, Philly! at Saint Frances De Sales school where she learned the fundamentals of the violin and began her orchestral training. She studied privately with Jennifer Lee and Kimberly Fisher. Lee who maintains a diverse teaching and performing career, and Fisher principle second violinist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Akili has participated in Musicopia String Orchestra, Settlement Music School, Philadelphia Sinfonia, and The Philadelphia Youth Orchestra as their Principal Second Violinist. She attended Interlochen Arts Camp during the summers of 2015-2016 with a grant from the Marian Anderson Award and was featured in a film about her accomplishments at the Marian Anderson Gala in the fall of 2015. Akili states "My time that I've spent at Interlochen has shown me all the different ways art can be portrayed. From artist painting the beautiful Michigan sunsets to the Musicians ending the long camp day with Swan Lake. I’ve also met my best friends there and to this day we still keep in touch. I thank everyone who has given me this opportunity." No stranger to the screen, Akili has also appeared in the film Crescendo: The Power of Music, and on the CBS morning news. In the year of 2016 Akili was announced an All City Fellow where she was given amazing opportunities such as performing chamber music along side students from The Curtis Institute of Music. Akili entered the All City Concerto competition were she was placed as runner up. She’s also participated in a master class given by Violinist Benjamin Beilman. The fellowship also allowed fellows free access to the Philadelphia Orchestra concerts and rehearsals where Akili met the great Itzhak Perlman and learned a couple of valuable violin tips and musicianship advice.
Akili was invited by Stanford Thompson to travel to Vancouver, Canada for the 2017 Ted Talk fellow conference, where she and a couple of past and present members of Play on Philly performed in front of some of the worlds career and visionary thinkers. On May 21, 2017 one of Akili’s life long dreams was made into a reality. She and a few other students were chosen to perform along side Violinist Hilary Hahn for the Lyra Harp Society benefit concert. "This experience was something that I thought could only be a dream. Hilary Hahn is someone who I've looked up to for years. Hilary is the type of player that I strive to be in years to come. Meeting her and talking to her in person was far more than what I expected in my head. She even allowed me a little back stage access where I was able to perform a little bit of my concerto for her. I was given some great tips on my playing. We also talked about my up and coming college auditions and career path. I have to say that experience has changed me forever I am now a firm believer that dreams do come true no matter how far fetched they are."
Akili traveled to Asia as the only student from Philadelphia accepted into NYO in the summer of 2018. Akili describes that experience as one she’ll never forget. “The NYO tour opened my eyes to a whole new world of possibilities. The tour showed me how the music that I play can be reached and appreciated from people all over the world.” On September 9, 2018 Akili was a featured young artist on NPR’s From The Top: Kennett Square show 358. In the fall of 2018 Akili then started her studies at The Royal College of music where she worked on improving her violin technique. After studying at RCM for a year, Akili continued her studies at The University of Hartford in 2020. She is now a Violin Performance major and a Performing Arts Management minor. Studying with violinist Anton Miller. In the summer of 2020 Akili arranged the “Black Art Rally” in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Akili states that “This was my time as a black musician to use my music to uplift the people in my community.”
