Why hello there. Welcome to my site!

Here's a bit about me... in third person. 

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Molly MacKinnon is a violinist and collaborative artist based on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish people. Fortunate to grow up in the thriving arts community of Nelson BC, Molly studied with former Vancouver Opera Orchestra and CBC Radio Orchestra violinist Wendy Herbison before moving to the coast in 2008 for the Bachelor of Music Performance program at the University of British Columbia, where she studied with Jasper Wood and Dale Barltrop.

 

Since completing her degree in 2012, Molly has developed a strong passion for theatre and interdisciplinary work. She has been featured in a number of productions including The Idiot (Neworld Theatre/VMT), STATIONARY: A Recession-Era Musical (Delinquent Theatre), The Tempest (Bard on the Beach), The Night’s Mare (Caravan Farm Theatre), Les Filles Du Roi (Urban Ink), Double Happiness (Music on Main), and most recently, a digital run of Good Things To Do (Rumble Theatre).

 

​Molly is the co-Artistic Director of Seagrass Music Society, founded in 2020 with Heather Beaty. The non-profit seeks to demystify and modernize the modes in which Vancouver audiences engage with classical music. Molly and Heather’s first major project was Sounding the Sophia, a concert centred around the historic sinking of the 1918 SS Princess Sophia. The show featured 3 world premiers by local Vancouver composers Kathleen Allan, Mishelle Cuttler, and Nancy Tam, and was developed, supported, and presented by The Little Chamber Music Series That Could.  Under the umbrella of Seagrass Music is Concerts On Tap, a series that collaborates with local craft breweries to create a program that pairs 4 pieces of music with a flight of beers or spirits. Seagrass also hosts The Piano Diaries, an annual free summer music series featuring local concert pianists performing on an acoustic upright piano in East Van parks.

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​Along with playwright Christine Quintana, Molly is the creator of Never The Last, a genre-bending theatre/concert piece based around the life and work of 20th century Canadian composer and violinist Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté. The show recently received 5 Jessie Richardson Theatre award nominations, and won in the Special Achievement Award category for outstanding interdisciplinary collaboration. The show made its Toronto debut as part of Theatre Passe Muraille’s 2022/2023 season.

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Molly is a member and co-founder of the Quarantettes, a singing quartet (and sometimes sextet!) brought into being in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The roving group has performed in parks all around Vancouver, Burnaby, and Surrey, as well as at doorsteps of many neighbours throughout East Van. 

 

Molly’s extensive orchestral experience includes playing with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Island Symphony, the Plastic Acid Orchestra, the Vancouver Film Orchestra, and the Allegra Chamber Orchestra, an all-female ensemble dedicated to celebrating women composers and performers.

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Molly performs regularly with the Black Dog String Quartet, whose first full-length album A Thousand Times Brighter was released in April 2023.