Unity in Strings
Marianne Henry, has toured extensively as a founding member of the Marian Anderson String Quartet. A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Ms. Henry holds a Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in violin performance, from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. She received a second Master’s degree in Chamber Music Performance at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Ms. Henry is a devoted teacher of violin and chamber music as well as performer. She has served on the faculties of the Harlem School of the Arts in New York City, New York City College, California State University, Los Angeles, Prairie View A&M University, Texas A&M University and Blinn College. Her students have won spots to participate in the Texas All- State Orchestras, summer programs at Interlochen Center for the Arts, Tanglewood Institute, Brevard Summer Institute, Heitz PEG Institute, and the Honors Performance Series at Carnegie Hall programs. She was also recognized by the American Protégé International Concerto Competition 2022 “For the extraordinary dedication and achievement in the field of teaching music and presenting students to perform at Carnegie Hall.” As first violinist and in recognition of the quartet's accomplishments, the Congress on Racial Equality awarded the Marian Anderson String Quartet the 2006 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Award for Excellence in Arts and Culture; in 2008, the Quartet received Chamber Music America’s coveted Guarneri String Quartet Award; and in 2010, the Quartet received a National Endowment for the Arts American Masterpiece award. The Quartet has presented residencies, concerts, and talks at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, Brown University as the Heimark inaugural artists-in-residence at the Center for the Study for Slavery and Justice, TedxBlinnCollege in Bryan, Texas, the Quad City Arts in Iowa, Gateways Music Festival in Rochester, New York and at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. Ms. Henry has been a soloist on KUSC Radio’s “Sundays’ at Four”, a featured soloist with the List-Glenn Festival Chamber Orchestra, the South-Central Chamber Orchestra, and the Afro American Symphony. She has been involved in a myriad of other orchestral work, which includes Phantom of the Opera, the Academy Award Orchestra, and The American Music Awards Orchestra. She has served as the concert master of the Brazos Valley Symphony and has played as a section violinist with the Colour of Music Festival’s All-Female Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, and Master’s Orchestra based in South Carolina. In 2023 she served as concertmaster of the Gateways Festival Chamber Orchestra on tour in Rochester, NY and in New York City, NY. Locally, she enjoys supporting the Brazos Civic Orchestra and playing around the BCS area at various churches and with the Brazos Valley Chorale, Texas A&M University Singing Cadets, Century Singers and Women’s Chorus. Ms. Henry also treasures spending time with her husband, (author and singer) and her 19 year old son, (virtuoso organist and pianist).