British-Japanese violinist Ayana Dalley is an award-winning orchestral and chamber musician passionate about music and ballet. She is a rising sophomore at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music studying violin performance. She has served as concertmaster of the Northwestern Chamber Orchestra.

Winner of the 2017 Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra Philharmonic Competition, she made her solo debut with them at age 13. She was accepted into the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra (GDYO) at age 13, where she rose to be concertmaster. As the concertmaster, she played Verdi’s Overture to La Forza Del Destino under DSO director Fabio Luisi. Ayana and her high-school trio Loumay performed frequently for Chamber Music International Youth Ambassadors and in outreach performances for community organizations.

Born in Wales, UK, and raised in Dallas, Texas, Ayana began her violin studies at the age of five and continued her training through middle and high school in the studio of Dallas Symphony Orchestra players Jina Lee and Lucas Alemàn, with whom she developed a passion for ensemble playing. In her senior year of high school, she additionally trained in chamber music under Prof. Philip Lewis of the University of North Texas. Currently, she is a student of former Chicago Symphony Orchestra player Prof. Blair Milton. Ayana has participated in solo master classes with Chee-Yun Kim, Andrès Cárdenas, Nathan Olson, and Pinchas Zukerman, and in chamber music master classes with members of the Dover Quartet.