Shadwa Mussad (violinist/violist) has distinguished herself as a versatile chamber musician, orchestral player, and educator. As a member of the West Eastern Divan Orchestra, an orchestra for Arab and Israeli musicians founded by Daniel Barenboim and the late Edward Said, she has performed for three consecutive seasons in the world’s most celebrated venues including Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Waldbuhne, La Scala, Tchaikovsky Conservatory Hall and the Salzburg Festspielhaus. She is a member of the Atlanta Ballet and Atlanta Pops Orchestras and plays with a variety of ensembles across the Southeast. Additionally, Shadwa has performed in the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), the Juventas New Music Ensemble, the Lexington, Springfield and Augusta Symphonies, the Lyra Vivace and ARCO chamber orchestras and the Orchestra of Indian Hill under notable conductors such as Gustavo Dudamel, Pierre Boulez, Gil Rose, and Levon Ambartsumian. Her music festival appearances have included the BBC Proms, Salzburg, Lucerne, Ravello, Piccolo Spoleto, Masterworks, and Monadnock music festivals.

In addition to her orchestral pursuits, Shadwa is an active chamber musician and a founding member of the Mosaic Quartet and Duo Harmonía. She is equally adept as a teacher and educator and is passionate about enriching the lives of others through music. Shadwa has taught as a Lecturer at the Ohio State University and as a resident teaching artist at the Conservatory Lab Charter School in Boston, MA. She also served as Director of Orchestras at Campbell High School in the Cobb County School District, GA. 

Shadwa holds a dual Masters Degree (MM/MA) in Violin Performance and String Pedagogy from the Ohio State University, a Graduate Performance Diploma from the Longy School of Music of Bard College, and a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Georgia. Her principal teachers have included Yura Lee, Jesse Mills, Kia-Hui Tan, Levon Ambartsumian, Shakhida Azhimkhodjaeva, Catharine Carroll, and Robert Gillespie (string pedagogy).