Member Spotlight: Alicia McGinnis

When Alicia McGinnis ’87 (’26 P) began her Northwestern University journey, she enrolled in the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music with plans to pursue violin performance. Although life changed its tempo, McGinnis says Northwestern’s interdisciplinary approach has guided her across a variety of professional genres.

“In my experience, the Northwestern perspective is directed toward academic excellence at all of its schools and its impact on human beings,” she says. While the Bienen School was the high note that first drew her to the University, she was also compelled by Northwestern’s strong academic reputation and wide range of options.

“In addition to music, there were opportunities to study German literature, the classics, and astronomy,” she says. “My undergraduate experience gave me confidence in my ability to find the core concepts in new fields of study.”

While earning her music degree, McGinnis switched gears from performance and decided to pursue violin instruction instead. She credits faculty encouragement for this decision, especially support from her violin professor, Gerardo Ribeiro. “He inspired me with his artistry and kindness, deepening my interest in violin pedagogy and motivating me to set high expectations for myself,” she says.

After graduating, McGinnis was off to Kentucky. The University of Louisville String Preparatory Center, which is geared toward precollegiate students, offered her a position to lead the strings program. There she honed her interest in organizational development and finance.

It was also in Louisville that McGinnis met her wife, Victoria McGinnis, who is an accomplished viola performer and instructor for young children. “We first met when she visited a violin class I was teaching, and we bonded over our mutual love of music and education,” McGinnis says. “We both wanted to create a program for young people to develop a lifelong love of music with an emphasis on performance as a public service.”

This idea was the catalyst for their move to Pittsburgh, which is McGinnis’s hometown, and together they founded the Center for Young Musicians. “We were very well received since early childhood music was still a novel concept at the time,” McGinnis says. The program, which is now called Craft Your Music, has been a local mainstay since 1994.

The couple is still actively involved in Craft Your Music, as president and program adviser, respectively. There, they have fostered an appreciation for music among hundreds of students. Their methodology has cultivated confident performers who have performed for senior living communities, schools serving individuals with disabilities, and national events such as White House holiday celebrations. Many of their students have launched careers of their own in music performance and education.

Over the years, McGinnis’s career path has taken a few twists and turns. She recently earned her master’s degree in finance from Georgetown University and is pursuing the chartered financial analyst and certified financial planner designations.

She is currently the general partner of Audrey’s Kitchen in Pittsburgh, a firm that invests in early-stage startups and helps them get access to funding and commercialization partners. There, she helps entrepreneurs raise funds for their businesses within a framework of personal financial planning.

She credits the groundwork laid at Northwestern for giving her the self-assurance to take career risks, as she moved from teaching to business ownership and then to financial analysis.

Giving back to her alma mater is important to McGinnis, who is a silver-level NU Loyal member. After one of the couple’s sons enrolled in the McCormick School of Engineering, it strengthened their ties to Northwestern.

“Victoria and I reconnected with the Bienen School of Music and made a gift to support its music and wellness initiative for students and the community,” says McGinnis, who is inspired by Assistant Professor Jennifer Blackwell’s work with pedagogy students that trains musicians to be strong educators. “We regard music as both an art form and a means to promote healthy communities and personal fulfillment.”

McGinnis has a bright outlook when she thinks about the University’s transformative role. “I believe there is a specific worldview that comes along with graduating from Northwestern,” she says. “The emphasis on interdisciplinary discovery creates a curious mind that seeks commonality and broader meaning. I hope Northwestern always attracts young people eager to link their interests with meaningful social impact.”