ABIGAIL ALBAUGH MARTINEZ

M.M., M.AmSAT

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Abigail Albaugh Martinez, M.M., M.AmSAT, is a violinist and certified Alexander Technique teacher originally from Annapolis, Maryland. She holds degrees in violin performance from East Carolina University and the University of Michigan. An active performer, Martinez has been a member of the Wilmington Symphony and the Atlantean Piano Trio, and was a founding member of the Caretta Quartet. She has appeared as an alumni guest artist at the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival (2013) and the East Carolina Summer Chamber Music Institute (2018). Martinez maintains a vibrant performance schedule with the Long Bay Symphony, the New Carolina Sinfonia, and in chamber music collaborations with faculty at Coastal Carolina University.

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In 2008, Martinez completed a three-year teacher training program at Alexander Technique Ann Arbor under the direction of Jane Heirich, earning certification through the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AmSAT). Her post-graduate studies include nine years of annual mentorship with Joan and Alex Murray in Urbana, Illinois.

Since 2011, Martinez has studied extensively with students of Paul Rolland, leading to invitations to teach Rolland String Pedagogy and the Alexander Technique at workshops hosted by George Mason University, Central Michigan University, and the University of Illinois. She has presented at six American String Teachers Association (ASTA) conferences, including a featured Deep Dive pre-conference session with four former Rolland students at the 2020 ASTA National Conference. In 2019, she was a presenter at Freedom to Make Music: Alexander Technique Conference for Musicians in New York City. She currently serves as Secretary of the Paul Rolland String Pedagogy Society.

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Martinez is also a Frisch and Denig Custom Chinrest Fitting Specialist, helping instrumentalists prevent injury through properly-fitted equipment with fittings online and in-person. She is a registered Suzuki teacher and incorporates a variety of pedagogical approaches into her teaching, including Rolland String Pedagogy and the Kodály method. From 2017–2018, she taught in the Fine Arts Department at Pine Crest School in Boca Raton, Florida. She has worked extensively with both instrumentalists and singers in private lessons and group classes since 2008, and hosted her second Alexander Technique Retreat for Violinists and Violists in Fairfax, Virginia, in April 2019.

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Since Fall 2019, Martinez has been a faculty member at Coastal Carolina University, where she teaches violin, viola, string pedagogy, and Alexander Technique. She currently resides in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where she offers workshops, chinrest fittings, maintains a private teaching studio, and performs throughout the Southeast.