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ASI FACULTY

VIOLIN

Scott Conklin

Commended by The Strad for “brilliance of tone and charismatic delivery,” Dr. Scott Conklin regularly appears internationally as a recitalist, soloist, recording artist, chamber musician, orchestral player, adjudicator, and teacher. He is Professor of Violin at the University of Iowa School of Music and a violin teacher at the Preucil School of Music. Dr. Conklin has performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Louisville, Nashville, and Berlin Symphony Orchestras. He is an Iowa String Teachers Association Leopold LaFosse Studio Teacher of the Year Award Winner and a Kentucky Colonel. Dr. Conklin’s students have procured appointments or have come from Asia, Central America, Europe, the Middle East, North America, and South America. A former student of Paul Kantor (University of Michigan), David Updegraff (Cleveland Institute of Music), and Carol Dallinger, Dr. Conklin has recorded albums on the Albany, Centaur, Chandos, MSR Classics labels as well as Alfred Music. www.scottconklinviolin.com

Anna Cromwell 

Anna Cromwell is Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point. She has been on faculty at Eastern Illinois University, Western Kentucky University, Minnesota State University, Bravo! Summer String and Keyboard Institute, and the Tennessee Valley Music Festival. As an avid teacher and lecturer, Dr. Cromwell has given numerous presentations at the Music Teachers National Association Conference, the American String Teachers Association National Conference, and the Illinois, Kentucky, and Indiana Music Educators State Conferences. Cromwell can be heard performing in Duo XXI with cellist Dr. Mira Frisch on the CD, Quest: New Music for Violin and Cello and the CD Metal Cicadas. In addition, Dr. Cromwell is a reviewer for the American String Teacher, and her articles have appeared in the NCASTA online journal and the Illinois ASTA journal The Scroll. Dr. Cromwell earned both her M.M. and D.M.A. under Sally O’Reilly at the University of Minnesota where she was a Dahl Fellowship recipient. She studied at Rice University under Kathleen Winkler, and graduated summa cum laude from Vanderbilt University where she was a student of Christian Teal. She studied violin pedagogy with Sally O’Reilly and completed long-term Suzuki training with Mark Bjork.

Patricia D’Ercole

Pat D’Ercole is Director Emerita of the Aber Suzuki Center at the UW-Stevens Point where she taught violin to children and Suzuki pedagogy courses.  She completed a master’s degree with an emphasis in Suzuki with Margery Aber and, in 1988, studied in Japan with Dr. Suzuki. She has been a clinician in 22 states in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, Finland, Estonia, Peru, Chile and Taiwan.  Pat has written numerous articles for the American Suzuki Journal, was chair of the Suzuki Association (SAA) Board of Directors and served as a member of the SAA committees to develop the Every Child Can! course and the Suzuki Principles in Action course. She was the founder and first president of the Suzuki Association of Wisconsin and has been on the planning committee for the International Research Symposium on Talent Education since its inception in 1991 and has served as its coordinator since 1995.  Through her leadership, “The American Suzuki Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point: The Suzuki Method in Action,” a collection of videos which chronicles the two weeks of Dr. Suzuki’s teaching at the American Suzuki Institute in Stevens Point in 1976, is now preserved and posted on the web for free viewing by all.  In 2002, she was the recipient of the American Suzuki Institute’s Suzuki Chair Award and in 2008 became a Distinguished Instructional Specialist at UWSP.  In 2020 she was honored by WI-ASTA as the Studio Teacher of the Year. In September 2010, Pat began the Suzuki Strings Mentoring Program, an online long-term practicum to assist and support Suzuki string teachers in their quest to become a better teacher within the environment of their usual employment. Pat currently teaches part-time at the Aber Suzuki Center.  She is active as a teacher trainer at workshops, institutes and the mentoring program.

Carol Dallinger​

Carol Dallinger is Professor of Music at the University of Evansville where she has been a member of the faculty since 1972. She is also founder and coordinator of the University of Evansville Suzuki Violin Program. An active performer, Ms. Dallinger serves as principal se

cond violinist of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra and performs regularly on department recitals. Ms. Dallinger has lectured at both state and national music conferences and, as a registered teacher trainer with the Suzuki Associatio

n of the Americas, frequently serves as clinician for summer institutes throughout the United States and overseas. She is a former member of the National Board of Directors of the Suzuki Association.

Ms. Dallinger has been recognized for her contributions to teaching with the UE Alumni Board Outstanding Teacher Award in 1995, and the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teacher Award in 2000. In 2006, she received the Suzuki Chair Award for her contributions to the field of Suzuki Talent Education at the American Suzuki Institute, Stevens Point, WI. From 2008 – 2013 Ms. Dallinger held the title of Oramay Cluthe Eades Distinguished Professor of Music.

Professor Dallinger holds a Bachelor of Music in performance from Illinois Wesleyan University and a Master of Music in performance from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. She currently teaches courses in applied violin, applied viola, and Suzuki violin pedagogy.

Terry Durbin

Dr. Timothy (Terry) Durbin’s unique brand of teaching excellence makes him one of the most sought-after clinicians/conductors throughout the world. With infectious enthusiasm and inspired musicianship, he brings smiles and laughter to students throughout the United States and around the world. His dynamic teaching career includes over 1100 workshops and institutes! His performance and teaching career stretch across the United States and Canada into Bermuda, Germany, Italy, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore, and he has recorded two CDs, including the complete chamber music of Marcel Dupre for the Naxos label. He has been appointed principal conductor of the Cave Run Symphony Orchestra beginning with the 2016 season. He has directed the South Dakota and Montana All State Orchestras. He is the holder of the American Suzuki Institute Suzuki Chair Award for 2013. Terry Durbin is also an accomplished composer and notable arranger.

Dr. Durbin holds a DMA in orchestral conducting from Claremont Graduate University in Los Angeles, California, a Masters in violin performance from the University of Illinois, and an undergraduate degree in violin performance from the University of Alabama. He has held university positions at Transylvania University, Morehead State University, Azusa Pacific University, the University of Louisville and the University of Oregon. He is a registered teacher trainer with the Suzuki Association of the Americas.

Terry maintains a private studio in Louisville, Kentucky. He has three children, two grandchildren and one great granddaughter. He believes in the magic of music’s power to enrich our lives.

Colleen Fizgerald

Colleen Fitzgeraldis director of the Barcel Suzuki String Academy in Wauwatosa, WI. She is a violin and Suzuki Early Childhood Education instructor. Ms. Fitzgerald earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance with Suzuki Pedagogy Emphasis at the University of Evansville and a Masters of Arts in Teaching degree from Cardinal Stritch University. Colleen was awarded the Certificate of Excellence in Studio Teaching from the Civic Music Association (2006) and earned the Certificate of Achievement 1 from the SAA (2017). She has been featured on TV and radio programs and Beyond the Music Lesson podcast discussing the Suzuki Method. Colleen is a clinician at workshops and institutes.

Brian Lewis

Brian Lewis teaches violin at the University of Texas at Austin and serves as Artistic Director of the Starling-DeLay Symposium at Julliard.  He grew up as a Suzuki student in Ottawa, Kansas, where he studied with his mother, Alice Joy Lewis and Eleanor Allen, and studied with Dr. Suzuki in Japan.  He received his Degree in Violin Performance with Dorothy DeLay at Julliard.  Mr. Lewis has been a featured violin soloist around the world. Acclaimed performances include concerto debuts in both New York’s Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall.  Internationally, Mr. Lewis has been a featured recitalist in Australia, Canada, Asia, Latin America, South America and Europe.

Roy Meyer

Highly regarded as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player and teacher, Roy’s chamber debut in Carnegie Hall was hailed as “marvelous” by the Epoch Times In addition to his role as concertmaster of the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, he is a founding member of the Apollo Music Festival in Houston, Minnesota. Chamber music collaborations include performances with Mike Block and Wu Tong of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, and violinists Tobias Steymans, concertmaster of the Bavarian Radio Symphony, and Robert Hanford, concertmaster of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Festival appearances include the Round Top Festival and performances with Opera Italiana with musicians of the Metropolitan Opera as part of the Central Park Summer Concerts, among others.

Meyer has appeared as soloist with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Wartburg Community Symphony Orchestra, and Indiana State University Orchestra. He has served as the concertmaster of Illinois Symphony Orchestra since 2015 and continues to perform with the Sarasota Orchestra and Chicago Philharmonic.

A dedicated educator, Meyer has led master classes at the Apollo Music Festival, the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Virginia Tech, SUNY New Paltz, Indiana State University, and the Aber Suzuki Center at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and served as a member of the faculty at the Illinois Chamber Music Festival in Bloomington, Illinois. In 2018, he served as the visiting professor of violin at Illinois Wesleyan University.

Roy Meyer began violin studies at 4 years old with Kyoko Fuller and earned his Bachelor of Music from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Masters of Music from the University of South Florida in Tampa, and pursued a certificate at New York University. His primary teachers include David Perry, Carolyn Stuart, Gregory Fulkerson, Naoko Tanaka, and Laurie Hamilton.

When not on stage, Roy enjoys following sports, traveling, and hiking.

Ann Montzka-Smelser

In between receiving her Bachelors of Music Education and Masters in Performance and Pedagogue at Northern Illinois University, Ann studied with Dr. Shinichi Suzuki at the Talent Education Institute in Matsumoto, Japan. In 2003, Ann was the recipient of the Byron Hester Memorial Excellence in Teaching Award. Ann is currently principal 2nd violinist with Camerata Chicago and concertmaster of the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra. As a Registered Suzuki Teacher Trainer, Ann teaches Suzuki Pedagogy at Wheaton College and Northern Illinois University. She is director of the NIU, CSA Suzuki Strings Program. Ann enjoys working with Suzuki families at Suzuki Institutes and workshops throughout the United States and in 2010 taught at the International String Conference in Singapore and the Latin American Suzuki Festival in Lima, Peru.

Kathy Rollings

Kathy Rollings lives in Columbia, MO where she maintains a full Suzuki studio of violinists and violists. She holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in violin performance, and has registered extensive teacher training with the Suzuki Association of the Americas. Kathy serves on the faculties of the American Suzuki Institute, Sound Encounters, and the Ottawa Suzuki Institute in the summers, and she teaches weekend workshops when she can. A United Methodist Deacon, Kathy is the Associate Pastor at Fairview United Methodist Church, where she serves as Minister of Music, Youth Pastor, and Minister of Christian Formation.

Amanda Schubert

Amanda Schubert studied Suzuki violin with her father, Lacy McLarry; received a B.M. degree in violin performance from Oklahoma City University under Mr. McLarry; received a M.M. degree in violin performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, under Norman Paulu; holds a Teaching Certificate from the Talent Education Research Institute in Matsumoto, Japan, under Shinichi Suzuki; and is a SAA Teacher Trainer. For many years she was a member of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and the violin faculty of the Brevard Music Festival in North Carolina. Currently she free lances in the Central Texas area and is director of the Suzuki Academy of Waco.

Beth Titterington

Beth Titterington is a Violin Teacher Trainer for the Suzuki Association of the Americas. She has been actively involved in the Suzuki Method since 1972, when she first heard the Japanese Talent Education Tour Group. Margery Aber chose her as one of the ‘honorarium students’ for the American Suzuki Institute the next year, in 1973. Since that time, she has studied with many people in the field including, most importantly, Dr. Suzuki. Ms.Titterington has served on the faculty at the Conservatory of Music / University of Missouri (KC) teaching Suzuki Method pedagogy classes and also directs her own studio, Kansas City Talent Education. She founded the Heart of America Suzuki Association in 1979, which is a regional affiliate of the SAA. An active clinician from 1975 to the present, she has taught and lectured at hundreds of institutes and workshops across the United States, Canada and in England. Ms. Titterington has served on numerous SAA committees over the years, and was elected to the SAA Board of Directors, serving from 2006-2009.

James Van Reeth

James Van Reeth, violinist, is director of the Denison University Suzuki Program in Granville, Ohio. He holds a Bachelors of Music in violin performance from the Aaron Copeland School of Music at Queens College-CUNY and a Masters in Music Education from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point having completed long-term Suzuki training with Patricia D’Ercole. Jim is a faculty member at Suzuki Music Columbus and performs with the Sterling String Quartet and the Newark-Granville Symphony Orchestra. He is co-coordinator of the Suzuki Youth Orchestras of the Americas for the SAA 2012 conference.

Carol Waldvogel

Carol Waldvogel is the director of North Shore Suzuki Strings in Milwaukee, WI. She holds a MME with an emphasis on the Suzuki method from the University of Colorado and a BME from Illinois State University. Carol was a founding member of the board of directors of the Suzuki Association of Wisconsin and is a former member of the board of directors of the SAA. She received the Byron Hester Outstanding Faculty Award in 2004 in Colorado and was the recipient of the Suzuki Chair award in 2009 in Wisconsin.  In 2016, the Suzuki Association of Wisconsin honored Carol with the Sensei Award for “Leadership and Caring” and in 2020, the Civic Music Association of Milwaukee named Carol Studio Teacher of the Year.  Carol has been a guest clinician and on the faculty at many Suzuki workshops and Suzuki summer institutes throughout the United States and Mexico.

Cello

Tanya Lesinsky Carey​

Tanya Lesinsky Carey has presented masterclasses and concerts in over thirty states and fifteen foreign countries. Her experience includes assistant principal of the Milwaukee Symphony, prize–winning recordings with the Rochester Philharmonic, concerts in Tully and Carnegie Halls, concerto performances, and recordings with the Lydian Trio and the Carey Consort. Education includes BM and MM from Eastman and DMA from the University of Iowa. Illinois ASTA awarded her the 1993 “Outstanding Studio Teacher of the Year Award” and the Suzuki Chair Award from ASI. She is professor emeritus from Western Illinois University, past-President of SAA, and listed in Who’s Who in America, and currently artist-teacher at Roosevelt CCPA and Music Institute of Chicago. Her students are represented on the artist faculty of Illinois and Indiana Universities. Her series of books on cello are on celloplayingiseasy.com

Laura Shaw

Laura Shaw is on the cello faculty of the Preucil School of Music in Iowa City, IA, and is a registered Cello Suzuki Teacher Trainer. She completed her long term Suzuki training with Pamela Davenport at the Hartt School of Music. Ms. Shaw earned her DMA from the University of Iowa, studying with Anthony Arnone and Hannah Holman. She has a Masters of Music from the University of Hartford, and a BA from Luther College.

Laura Shaw is Associate Principal of the Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed with Orchestra Iowa, Cedar Falls Symphony and as a member of the Corridor Piano Trio. She has won numerous awards, including the Pelzer Award at the University of Iowa, and the Fort Dodge Concerto Competition.

Ms. Shaw has been teaching for over 20 years and is an alum of the Preucil School of Music. She will be teaching at the American Suzuki Institute in the summer of 2020, and will be doing teacher training and teaching at the Virginia Suzuki Institute.

Carlynn Savot

Carlynn Savot is a cello teacher and performer in Bloomington, MN. Strongly committed to encouraging the next generation of musicians, she teaches private lessons, Suzuki group classes, and chamber music at the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis, St. Joseph’s School of Music in St. Paul, and in the Augsburg Suzuki Talent Education program. She is on the faculty at Concordia University – St. Paul, the Black Hills String Retreat, and the Sartory String Quartet Institute. Specializing in chamber music, Dr. Savot has a particular interest in performing new music and working closely with composers. She holds performance degrees from St. Olaf College, the University of Hartford, and the University of Connecticut.

 

Linc Smelser

Linc Smelser received his bachelor’s degree in cello performance from University of Arizona, and his master’s degree and performer’s certificate in cello performance and pedagogy from Northern Illinois University. He is a long-term member of the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra and an active substitute with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He is on the faculty of Wheaton College Conservatory of Music and Northern Illinois University.  Appointed conductor and music director of the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra in 2003, Linc is a frequent guest conductor for various Illinois orchestras and was named the 2009 Conductor of the Year (Small Orchestra) by the Illinois Council of Orchestras.

Violin/Viola

Rachel Fabulich

Violist, Rachel Fabulich, is a Suzuki student, parent, and teacher.  She is a clinician at institutes and workshops around the country and has served as a viola coordinator for the 2014 and 2016 SAA conferences. She currently runs her own studio in Framingham, MA, and serves on the Faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music.

Mary Moran

Mary Moran is principal viola of the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra. As the CWSO’s Education and Community Engagement Coordinator, she performs in area schools as part of the Meet the Music program introducing elementary-age students to orchestral instruments. Previously, she was a member of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, Las Cruces Symphony Orchestra, Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, and Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra in addition to other ensembles in Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas. She has also performed with the National Repertory Orchestra, and at the Aspen Music Festival, the Round Top Festival Institute, and the Castleton Festival in Virginia. Additionally, she enjoys an active career as a chamber musician.


Kirsten Swanson

The Classical Voice of North Carolina described violist and violinist Kirsten Swanson as a “stunning musician with flawless technique combined with that unique ‘viola’ sound that can melt your soul.”  Feeling equally at ease with “new” and “old” music, in an orchestra or solo, Dr. Swanson enjoys a diverse career that has taken her all over the world.

A committed teacher, Kirsten has studied Suzuki pedagogy with almost too many amazing teachers to list (but I’ll try): Edmund Sprunger, April Losey, Sarah Montzka, Laurie Scott, Joanne Martin, Betsy Stuen-Walker, James Hutchins, Lori Einfeldt, and her beloved childhood teacher, Joanne Bath, and holds a Graduate Certificate in Suzuki Pedagogy from East Carolina University. Equally at home teaching adults and young children, she has guest taught at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, Wake Forest University, and Elon College. She is currently an adjunct professor of viola, violin, and chamber music at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte and maintains a private studio in her home.

An experienced chamber musician, Dr. Swanson has collaborated with such artists as Schlomo Mintz, Garth Knox, Jon Nakamatsu, and members of the JACK, Pacifica, and Ciompi String Quartets. As an orchestral musician, she has won positions in the Winston-Salem Symphony and Greensboro Symphonies and has played full-time as a section member with the North Carolina Symphony. For the 2024-2025 season, Dr. Swanson will be sitting as the Assistant Principal viola with the Charlotte Symphony.

Piano

Gail Gebhart

​Gail Gebhart is a private Suzuki piano teacher in Farmington Hills, Michigan.  In addition to maintaining an active studio, she is on the faculty of Wayne State University where she teaches private and class piano.  She received a B.M. With Distinction from the University of Michigan and a M.M. in Piano Performance from Wayne State University. She received Suzuki training from Mary Craig Powell, Yasuko Joichi and Renee Robbins. A coordinator the piano area for the Suzuki Association of the Americas’ Biennial Conference in 2014 and she has taught at the Peaks to Plains Suzuki Institute, Colorado Suzuki Institute, Oregon Suzuki Institute, Calgary Suzuki Institute, and the Chicago Suzuki Institute.  In August 2016, Gail became a piano Teacher Trainer for the Suzuki Association of the Americas.

Ann Marie Novak

Ann Marie Novak, Director of Suzuki Programs, has taught piano and served as collaborative pianist at the Aber Suzuki Center for over 30 years. She was the founding Director of the Northampton Community Music Center (MA) and has served as President of the Suzuki Association of Wisconsin and Co-chair of the Stevens Point District of the Wisconsin Music Teachers Association. She was head of the Suzuki Departments at both the Performing Arts Division of UMass and at the Community Music School of Springfield. She is a regular clinician at the SAW Retreat and the American Suzuki Institute and has taught masterclasses at workshops in the Midwest and on the East Coast. Her students have been featured in Master Classes both locally and nationally, and they regularly receive honors at WMTA District and State Auditions. She has performed as a soloist and as a chamber musician, and she presents lectures at both the American Suzuki Institute and SAA Conferences. Miss Novak manages and has written for the ASC parent education blog, develops parent education materials, and has been published several times in the SAA Journal. She was honored as the 2015 Stevens Point Area Music Teachers’ Association Member of the Year and received the Suzuki Association of Wisconsin Suzuki Sensei Award in 2020.

Tom Yang

Tom Yang joined the Aber Suzuki Center faculty in 1999. Born in New Jersey, he did his undergraduate work at Bucknell University where he received a Bachelor of Music degree in Music History. Following his studies at Bucknell, he went on to earn a Master of Music in piano performance at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and later to do work towards a piano performance doctorate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Tom’s varied experience has included teaching in a private studio in Marshfield, at the Wausau Conservatory of Music and at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Harp

Elinor Niemisto

Elinor Niemisto is Senior Lecturer in Harp at Carleton College in Northfield and Principal Harp in the Rochester (MN) Symphony.  She has retired from over 30 years teaching at St. Olaf College.  Elinor has registered credits in Suzuki Harp Pedagogy through Book 5 and is serving on the North America Suzuki Harp Repertoire Committee.  She has held offices in the MN Chapter of the American Harp Society, Inc. and served on the AHS Board of Directors.

Phala Tracy

Phala Tracy teaches Suzuki harp at Studio Fidicina in Minneapolis, MN and she is adjunct faculty at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN.  She teaches harp and music theory at Suzuki institutes across the country and she is a Suzuki Harp Teacher Trainer.  Phala holds degrees in Harp Performance and Music History from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (BM) and degrees in Harp Performance and Composition from the California Institute for the Arts (MFA).  She has recorded a children’s CD of Critter Songs and is working toward publishing her curriculum of Music Theory in Song and Rhyme and her collection of Songs for Sight Reading.  She is an active arranger, composer, improviser and freelance musician.

Suzuki Early Childhood Education

Voice

Solmari Figueroa Cruz

Solmarí Figueroa Cruz, mezzosoprano, was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She completed her high school education in piano and choir at the Escuela Libre de Música of San Juan. She pursued undergraduate studies at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, specializing in Music Education with a focus on Choral Music. Currently, she is earning a master’s degree in music education with an emphasis on Suzuki Pedagogy at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point.

Since 2016, Solmarí has been a dedicated Suzuki Voice teacher, completing training up to Book 5 in 2023 under mentor Mary Hofer. Notably, she served on the faculty at the First Suzuki Voice Institute in the Americas (ASI, WI).

Solmarí teaches Suzuki Voice at the Escuela Puertorriqueña para la Música and choir at the Escuela de Bellas Artes de Bayamón. Her passion for vocal music shaped her career, inspiring young musicians through dedicated music education.

Mary Hofer

Mary Hofer has been developing a project incorporating voice instruction and the Suzuki philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point Aber Suzuki Center for twenty-five years.  The program is modeled after the Finnish Suzuki voice program, directed by Dr. Paivi Kukkamaki.

Mrs. Hofer, a presenter at the 1990, 1994, 2010, and 2012 SAA Conferences, is the first American voice teacher to attain Teacher Trainer Status in America.

Prior to teaching Suzuki voice, Mary taught pre-school through Grade 8 General Music, Junior High Chorus, and private voice lessons for ten years.  A lyric soprano, Hofer has attended seminars led by the eminent vocal pedagogue Oren Brown, and participated in opera workshops at Oglebay Park, West Virginia, and American University, Washington, DC.

Hofer, a long-time student of Professor Emeritus Marjorie Phelps-Kampenga, has coached with Jon Spong, Fred Popper, Richard Crittenten, and Max Walmer.  Hofer holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Creative U

Born in Iowa City, Iowa, Ching-chu Hu received his degrees at Yale University, the University of Iowa, and the University of Michigan. He is an award-winning composer whose music has been recorded and performed internationally. Honors include the Aaron Copland Fellow at the MacDowell Colony for the Arts and winner of the American Prize for Chamber Music. He is Professor of Music at Denison University, where he has been a faculty member since 2000 and founded the TUTTI New Arts Festival. His four children, Xander, Elisabeth, Nicholas, and Madeline are Suzuki students on violin, piano, and flute.

George Teague

George Teague is a cellist and teacher in the Madison area. He completed his Master’s degree in Cello Performance at the Chicago College of Performing Arts under renowned pedagogue Dr. Tanya Carey. He completed his undergraduate degree at Northern Arizona University under Dr. Mary Ann Ramos. While at NAU, he was the recipient of the Nadene Bean Performance Scholarship. He currently sits principal cello for the Lake Geneva Symphony Orchestra, and has held principal seats in the CCPA Symphony and NAU Symphony Orchestras. As an active performer, he has performed with groups such as the Kenosha Symphony Orchestra, Lake County Symphony Orchestra, and Metropolitan Chamber Players.

George enjoys performing and teaching in a variety of styles, and has completed training in Suzuki Cello books 1-10 under Drs. Alice Ann O’Neill and Tanya Carey. His current performance projects with the Chicago-based ensemble Otherminded include works and improvisations that examine the role of the musician in current society, and those that break down the barrier between performer and audience.

Collaborative Pianists

Dr. Nancy Boston, recently retired Professor of Music at Mansfield University of PA, earned the Bachelor of Music degree, cum laude, from Lawrence University. She received the MM and MA in Piano Performance from the Peabody Conservatory. Additional studies were done at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the French Piano Institute. Dr. Boston has specialized in the performance of music by female composers for the past 18 years, presenting many solo and chamber music. She recorded a CD “American Women: Modern Voices in Piano Music”. Since its release, the CD has received glowing reviews, including: “All the selections are attractive, but it is Boston’s clear and colorful playing that make this disc a must” and “Nancy Boston brings strength and power along with her fluid singing tone and her wonderful sense of poise to the performance of these unusually interesting pieces”. She has appeared as soloist throughout the United States. Foreign appearances include concerts in Paris, France, St. Petersburg, Russia, Ernen, Switzerland, New Zealand and Guelph, Canada. She has been an active adjudicator for piano competitions and festivals on the local, state and regional levels. Since retirement, Dr. Boston has been an accompanist for UWSP and the Aber Suzuki Center.

Teacher Enrichment

Brian Lewis

Brian Lewis teaches violin at the University of Texas at Austin and serves as Artistic Director of the Starling-DeLay Symposium at Julliard.  He grew up as a Suzuki student in Ottawa, Kansas, where he studied with his mother, Alice Joy Lewis and Eleanor Allen, and studied with Dr. Suzuki in Japan.  He received his Degree in Violin Performance with Dorothy DeLay at Julliard.  Mr. Lewis has been a featured violin soloist around the world. Acclaimed performances include concerto debuts in both New York’s Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall.  Internationally, Mr. Lewis has been a featured recitalist in Australia, Canada, Asia, Latin America, South America and Europe.

Carrie Salisbury

Carrie Salisbury is a Los Angeles-based performer, small-business owner, and violin/viola teacher. She created StringsPop, a music theory enrichment experience for teens and tweens, and offers innovative teacher and student workshops on Creative Music Literacy. Carrie holds a B.M. in Viola performance and now studies orchestral repertoire and pedagogy with Dr. Mick Wetzel. A Suzuki teacher of 20+ years, she directs the SMAC Los Angeles Branch. Her private students perform regularly as Crescendo Strings, an all-ages multi-level string group and as First Inversion, a premiere teen ensemble known for creating and performing their own arrangements. She is a parent to three young Suzuki string students with her husband, pianist-composer Benjamin Salisbury.