Violist Amelia Hollander Ames is a passionate advocate for music. In December 2023, she premiered Ixchel, a concerto written for her by Judith Alejandra Gonzalez Benitez, in Mérida, Mexico. 2024– 25 brought many recording projects: notably Philip Glass’s Songs and Poems for solo viola, to be released soon on Glass’s OMM label, as well as music by Yoon-Ji Lee, Reynaliz Herrera, folk duo Ari and Mia, and Amelia’s own band, Violabajo. In 2024, New Focus released Swirl, debut album by RAHA Duo, featuring lots of new viola/piano music. Amelia plays principal with the Vista Philharmonic and is a member of Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Shelter Music, and Semiosis Quartet. She loves teaching, and carries what she learned from her own teachers- including Martha Katz, Karen Ritscher and George Taylor- to her many private students as well as groups she coaches at Lexington Chamber Music Center.