Violinist Ann Marie Pocklembo was raised in Edison, NJ, and began studying the violin in 3rtd Grade. By the time she was in high school, she was playing orchestral concerts in Carnegie Hall, as well as traveling to Italy and China to concertize. She studied with the renowned soloist Erik Friedman, at Southern Methodist University , for three years. She then attended Rutgers University , where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance. She went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Music Education from Northwestern University, and played in the Chicago Civic Orchestra under conductors such as Sir Georg Solti, Pierre Boulez, Zubin Mehta, and Daniel Barenboim.
Ann Marie began her career as a high school orchestra director in the Monroe – Woodbury school district, in NY. She has been the district high school orchestra director in Hamilton for the past 29 years. At the college level, Ann Marie is on the adjunct faculty at Mercer County College, as well as NJ City University in Jersey City.
As a freelance violinist, Ann Marie is in high demand, and can be found playing in the NJ Capital Philharmonic, the American Repertory Ballet Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Peter by the Sea, Plays in the Park Orchestra, Staten Island Philharmonic, East Brunswick Symphony, Bloomfield symphony and other ensembles.
She is on the board of directors for the Marian Anderson Historical Society in Philadelphia, and frequently joins them for concerts through out the city. Ann Marie has attended the Ameropa Festival in Prague 10 times, and is currently on the faculty of I-AME in Prague, where she gives private lessons and directs the chamber orchestra. Well versed in many styles of music, she has toured and performed as a back up artist with Mannheim Steamroller, Kansas, Yes, Johnny Mathis, Anne Murray, Smokey Robinson, John Lithgow, LeAnn Rimes and Aretha Franklin, to name a few.
She recorded the soundtrack for Zin Zin Zin, a Violin, with Angela Lansbury as narrator, and also appeared as an extra in the movie Home Alone 2.