The moment Nicole Boutros Melrose touched the violin at 11 years of age, a ringing sound of hope was produced. Coming from a background of socio-economic hardship and experiencing the struggles of a first generation Arab-American, the violin provided Nicole with a way to express herself and hope for a bright future. At the age of 15, she knew she wanted to start a program for children like herself who could not afford access to high-quality string programming. In 2013 she started her first program with historically underserved students in East Dallas. What started as a small class with a few crowdfunded violins became a large and thriving program impacting over 300 families, with 100% of auditioning program graduates admitted into Magnet Arts and Talented and Gifted Academies. Nicole’s programs have become well-known for innovative teaching methods and pedagogy, meaningful collaborations and community partnerships, culturally responsive and engaging repertoire, and powerful results. 

Nicole is a visionary innovator, groundbreaking string educator, clinician, composer, researcher, speaker, and performing violinist. She created StringRise so that students and educators far and wide can be impacted by the transformational power of innovative string methodology, curriculum, workshops, and products. She believes beginning strings is the key to the thriving, growing, and equitable future of string education. Nicole is an expert in beginning string pedagogy, an innovative composer, engaging speaker, and visionary product developer working to catalyze equity in music education through the StringRise Fellowship and Scholars program.

In addition to leading StringRise, Nicole is a violinist who performs with symphony orchestras across the United States, and plays with diverse musical styles ranging from bluegrass, to jazz, to hip-hop. Nicole was the first in her family to graduate from college, with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Southern Nazarene University and a Masters in Social Justice from Southern Methodist University. She is a recipient of the B’nai B’rith Award for her commitment to ethics, and the Karis Stahl Fadely award for her intercultural work.

Nicole is very active in the string education community - she is a member of the Suzuki Association of America, Texas Orchestra Directors Association, Texas Music Educator’s Association, and serves on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA). She presents at conferences, universities, and school districts around the United States. You can read more about Nicole’s personal story and work featured in the The Dallas Morning News HERE.