Maeve O'Hara is an Irish-American violinist and registered Suzuki violin teacher based in Oak Park, IL. Described as a player whose "talent can be heard from the first note," (Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg) her musical life has led her to the stages of Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and abroad to venues throughout London, Ireland, and China.

A dedicated and passionate educator, Maeve is a registered teacher with the Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA) and is currently on faculty at the Western Springs School of Talent Education. She is a co-founder and co-owner of Suzuki Early Childhood Chicago, the only organization bringing the Suzuki early childhood curriculum to the Chicagoland area. Former faculty positions include the Suzuki programs within the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, Queens College Lawrence Eisman Center for Preparatory Studies in Music, and Greenwich House Music School. She has also served as Teaching Artist for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra in an intensive el Sistema program, and taught over 300 students through Brooklyn Conservatory's Music Partners program in public schools across Brooklyn and Queens.

Maeve takes training and ongoing education seriously, and has completed teacher training for the full Suzuki violin repertoire (books 1-10), repeating books several times. She has completed long-term training at School for Strings with Allen Lieb and Katerina Gerson, additional long-term training at WSSTE with Edward Kreitman, Nancy Jackson, and Thomas Wermuth, SECE training for stages one and two with Sharon Jones, and her earliest Suzuki long-term training at Ithaca College with Sanford Reuning and Carrie Reuning-Hummel. 

As a violinist, Maeve serves as the Concertmaster of the Lakeview Orchestra since 2024. Previously she has played with the Binghamton Philharmonic, String Orchestra of Brooklyn (principal second), Fire Island Pines Art Project, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Manhattan Symphonie, the Tri-Cities Opera, Ohio Light Opera, and the Purchase Opera Company. She can be heard on recordings with the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra and Purchase Opera Company. She loves to play chamber music and traditional Irish music when visiting family in Ireland, at a ceilidh or session. Maeve appeared on John Schaeffer's Soundcheck in June 2013 with Irish singer/songwriter Julie Feeney, recorded live in the WNYC studios. 

Maeve holds two degrees in violin performance, a Master of Music degree summa cum laude from the Purchase College Conservatory of Music (2012), and a Bachelor of Music from Ithaca College (2010). Her primary studies were with Calvin Wiersma (Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Manhattan String Quartet), and Susan Waterbury (founding member, Cavani String Quartet). She had additional training with Carmit Zori and Linda Case. She was the winner of the Purchase College 2012 Concerto Competition (Tchaikovsky), served as concertmaster and principal second of the Purchase Symphony Orchestra, Ithaca College Symphony, IC Chamber Orchestras, and was a member of two period-informed performance groups, the Purchase Camerata and Ithaca Early Music ensemble. She spent a semester abroad in London, studying with Maureen Smith at the Royal College of Music and performing with the Imperial College Symphony Orchestra. She has been fortunate to participate in masterclasses for Gil Shaham, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Rachel Barton Pine, Orion String Quartet, Tashi Ensemble, the Ying Quartet, and the Chiara Quartet.

Maeve is indebted to Alice Kay Kanack, her violin teacher throughout childhood, whose rich and nurturing music school taught improvisation from the start. Ms. Kanack is the author of the 'Creative Ability Development' series, a complement to the Suzuki method that proves individual musicality and creativity can be developed alongside solid musicianship and technique, through improvisation. Maeve completed teacher training in the CAD method and is thrilled to incorporate it into her studio.