Anaar Desai-Stephens began playing violin at the age of 6 in the East Harlem violin program, subject of the movies "Small Wonders" and "Music of the Heart", through which she played in Carnegie Hall and worked with artists such as Isaac Stern and Arnold Steinhardt. She graduated from the Manhattan School of Music in 2004 with a B.M. in Violin Performance, and is currently studying at Boston University, where she is undertaking a double Masters degree in Violin Performance and Ethnomusicology. Anaar is passionate about chamber music, having attended such festivals as Apple Hill Chamber Festival, The Quartet Program, and Musicorda; she also served as a faculty member at Apple Hill. Anaar is a fierce advocate of new music, having played with the Tactus contemporary music ensemble and attended the Bang on a Can and Ostrava summer institutes. In 2006, Anaar founded the Seedlot Project, an organization dedicated to commissioning and performing absolutely new music in upstate NY. Her teachers include Mitchell Stern, Joanna Jenner, Burton Kaplan, and Bayla Keyes.
