Marie-Élise McNeeley, 20, began her violin studies at the age of 3 with Yvrose Phillipe-Auguste in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  She was made a permanent member of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Sainte Trinité, Haiti’s only professional orchestra, at 9 years of age.  In 1998, she was admitted into the Pre-College Division of the Juilliard School, where she joined the studio of Shirley Givens.  In 2002, she was the winner of the annual concerto competition, making her Lincoln Center debut playing Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 with the Pre-College Symphony.  In 2007, Marie-Élise won First Prize at the NANM Local, Regional and National Competitions.  She has also won permanent positions in the Flint Symphony and the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra.  Marie-Élise received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Michigan, where she was a recipient of the Sphinx Scholarship.  This year she was selected for induction into the Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society for academic and artistic excellence. In the fall, Marie-Elise will be attending the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music as a Jacobs Fellow. She will be pursuing a Master of Music degree in Early Music as a student of Stanley Ritchie.