Naima Burrs, a violinist and conductor from Richmond, earned her Master of Music degree in violin performance at the University of Northern Iowa. Burrs has performed as a section violinist with many ensembles, including the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, the Williamsburg Symphony Orchestra, and the Waterloo Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra, as well as serving as principal second violin with Opera on the James and as concertmaster of Summer Garden Opera. Last year, Burrs was selected as a participant in the Conducting Academy of the Domaine Forget International Music Festival (Québec, Canada), where she studied with Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin, music director of the Metropolitan Opera House.

In January 2022, Burrs assumed the role of Music Director for the Petersburg Symphony Orchestra in Virginia. In August 2022, she became a member of the University of Richmond’s faculty, where she also currently leads the University of Richmond Symphony Orchestra. Last July, Burrs made her guest conducting debut with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, and in November made her guest conducting debut with the National Philharmonic Orchestra, leading eight performances for their educational series at the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda, MD. In December, Burrs led six performances for the Richmond Ballet/Richmond Symphony annual presentation of The Nutcracker, while serving as the assistant conductor.

Naima Burrs is the Director of Orchestral Activities at Virginia State University (Petersburg, VA) and has previously contributed to the faculties of Longwood University (Farmville, VA) and Hampden-Sydney College (Hampden Sydney, VA). She will graduate in May 2024 with a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in instrumental conducting from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.