Alison was born in Princeton, N.J., and grew up in London and Jersey City. She began violin lessons at the age of 6, after being told that she was too small to begin flute and could not study piano without having one to practice on.
In high school she was a member of the New Jersey Youth Symphony, and attended the BUTI at Tanglewood. She attended Yale University (B.A. English) and Manhattan School of Music (M.M. Violin). Her principal teachers have been Vivenne Thomas, Elzbieta Winnicka, Kyung Yu, and Burton Kaplan. She has studied chamber music with Michael Friedman and Kenneth Cooper.
She has been a member of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra (CT), Riverside Sinfonia (NJ), Princeton Symphony (NJ), and Opera Roanoke (VA), and has served for four summers as concertmaster for the Ash Lawn Opera Festival (VA).
For three years she served on the coaching staff of the New Jersey Youth Symphony, and taught at all four locations of Westminster Choir College’s Conservatory. Now she maintains a small private studio in Charlottesville.
Alison enjoys reading, opera, folk music, Law and Order, word derivations, and listening to mystery stories on her long commutes. She teaches a Sunday School class for ages 2 to 9 and often plays at church. She wishes she could sing properly, dance at all, and play the organ.
Alison joined the Richmond Symphony in 2001. She lives in Charlottesville with her husband Jonathan and children Johanna (5) and Samuel (2).