Dr. Annie Savage brings a unique convergence of conservatory training, innovative pedagogy, and diverse artistry to James Madison University. She is a Presidential Scholar alumna of the Interlochen Arts Academy, performance scholarship recipient at the Oberlin Conservatory, and a graduate of The Boston Conservatory at Berklee College of Music. Her studies include Alice Chalifoux, Cynthia Price-Glynn, Julie Lyonn-Leiberman, and her students- who continue to teach her new ways of thinking about music every day. 

 

As a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, Savage has performed with artists as diverse as Aretha Franklin, Alejandro Escovedo, Big Freeda, and the Infamous String Dusters while maintaining a classical career under conductors that include John Williams, Neeme Järvi, and Robert Spano. Her award-winning band of 15 years, The Savage Hearts, reached #1 on International Folk Music DJ charts with their track, "Age" and has performed at venues including IBMA World of Bluegrass and the Vancouver Island Music Festival. Her performance career and catalogue of over 20 albums spans roots, classical, rock, digital, old-time, and bluegrass music. 

 

Savage's expansive approach to string pedagogy emerged from twenty four years of public school orchestral classroom experience, where she pioneered the integration of vernacular music into traditional string programs and designed mariachi, rock, hip hop, and popular music classes and ensembles. Her pedagogy (www.free-strings.com), has helped to transform string education by centering creativity, improvisation, and cultural responsiveness. The method's impact extends internationally through partnerships with the D'Addario Corporation, the IBMA Foundation, and widespread adoption in public schools. She has served on the faculties of Kaufman Kamp (TN), Red Wing Academy (VA), Blueberry Bluegrass Festival (Edmonton, CA), Pickin in the Pines (AZ), Folk Alliance (KS), and looks forward to continuing this work as an ambassador of JMU to festivals, camps, classrooms, and conferences. 

 

At JMU, she teaches courses in music education, string pedagogy, popular music pedagogy, graduate-level research courses, performs with campus ensembles, and hosts popular American roots community jam. She recently founded the JMU String Band with the goal of offering informal non-notated experiences to all string players: traditional and nontraditional. Savage's students benefit from her comprehensive expertise across music education methodologies, from elementary general music through advanced instrumental pedagogy. Her graduates continue this legacy of excellence, earning acceptance to prestigious institutions including The New School, Interlochen, and Berklee, while establishing successful careers in performance, education, and music industry leadership.

 

She enjoys an active career as a creative clinician and working musician. When she's not at JMU, she can be found spending time with her husband, Scott Hoffman, and three children Milo, Iris, and Oliver Fox- most likely in the great outdoors.