Amanda Lo McGregor Played for Thousands and Then Chose a Different Stage

Rising Stars 2025

Amanda Lo McGregor has never done things the conventional way. She has stood in the wings of sold-out arenas, violin in hand, performing alongside some of the biggest names in music. She has felt the rush of stadium lights and the particular electricity of a crowd that stretches as far as you can see. And then, deliberately and joyfully, she walked away from all of it to pursue something she wanted just as much.

Today, Amanda is deep into her DVM at Western University of Health Sciences, specializing in exotic animals and wildlife conservation. She is also a mother of two, the manager of what she lovingly describes as a mini zoo at home, and — because she has never been someone who does things halfway — she is still playing music.

If you are waiting for her to tell you it has been easy, you will be waiting a while. But if you ask her whether it has been worth it, she will not hesitate for a second.

A Life Built in Movements

There is a particular kind of discipline that concert musicians develop, the kind that comes from years of daily practice, of chasing a standard of excellence that is never quite finished. Amanda built that discipline from the ground up, carving out a career as a violinist that took her to stages most musicians only dream about.

But somewhere alongside the touring schedules and the rehearsals and the roar of the crowd, another calling was getting louder. Animals had always been woven into the fabric of her life, and the more she paid attention to that pull, the clearer it became. Veterinary medicine was not a backup plan. It was the next movement in a life composed of more than one dream.

She enrolled in the DVM program at Western University and brought everything with her — the discipline, the work ethic, the ability to perform under pressure, and the two kids who remind her every single day why none of this is abstract.

On Exotic Animals, Wildlife, and the Work That Matters

Amanda's focus on exotic animals and wildlife conservation is not accidental. It is an extension of the same instinct that led her to this path in the first place — a desire to show up for the creatures and communities that need advocates the most. Wildlife medicine sits at the intersection of science, policy, and compassion, and it is exactly the kind of complex, meaningful work that Amanda gravitates toward.

At home, the commitment is personal. Her household operates at the cheerful chaos level of a small sanctuary, a rotating cast of animals that keep life full and never boring. Her children are growing up understanding that caring for other creatures is simply part of how this family moves through the world.

The Secret She Is Happy to Share

Ask Amanda how she manages it all and she will give you an honest answer. Purpose. Passion. And a husband who shows up, consistently and completely, in the way that makes the rest of it possible.

"I'm proof that your life can have more than one dream," she says, "and you don't have to choose just one."

That line lands differently when you know the full picture. When you understand that she is not speaking theoretically but from the middle of a life she is actively, deliberately building. A life that contains stadium stages and surgical lamps, chicken puns and conservation work, bedtime routines and board exam prep, all held together by a woman who decided a long time ago that she was not going to let anyone else define the size of her story.

From the Stage to the Clinic — and Everywhere in Between

Amanda Lo McGregor is what it looks like when someone refuses to be one thing. She is a concert violinist and a vet student and a mother and a conservationist and, by all accounts, someone who takes her chicken puns very seriously. She traded backstage passes for bandage wraps and found, on the other side of that trade, that she had not given anything up. She had just made more room.

That is the thing about Rising Stars. The brightest ones are never burning in just one direction.