FACULTY BIOS
SAW RETREAT 2012
Megan Aswegan: My love for music began early in my life. By age 4 my parents enrolled me in Suzuki violin lessons and soon I was involved in many different musical activities. I played flute in the school band, bass guitar in the jazz band and took violin lessons at the MacPhail Center for the Arts in Minneapolis, MN. I attended UW-Eau Claire and received a Bachelors of Music Education in 2001. In 2002 I accepted a job teaching elementary orchestra in the Mequon-Thiensville Public Schools where I am currently employed. I completed my Masters in Teaching Music from the University of Northern Arizona in 2006. I began teaching Suzuki violin lessons in 1999 and currently teach lessons from my home in Port Washington, WI.
David Becker, violist, received a Bachelor Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Master of Music from the Juilliard School. Mr. Becker has been principal violist with the Victoria and Saskatoon Symphony Orchestras in Canada and has performed with many other orchestras including the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra and the New Jersey and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestras. He has taught at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, the Brevard Music Center and numerous Suzuki Institutes.
Mr. Becker is currently the co-principal violist of the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra. He has been on the faculty of the Aber Suzuki Center at UW-Stevens Point since 1994 and is also an active accompanist in that program. Mr. Becker is also the founder and music director of the Central State Chamber Orchestra, now in its 14th season.
Jason Behr, Classical Guitar, Wisconsin Conservatory of Music faculty member since 2009. M.M. in classical guitar performance, Peck School of the Arts, UW-Milwaukee; B.F.A., UW-Milwaukee in collaboration with the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. Since the age of 18, Mr. Behr has been an active teacher and performer in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. While studying under Professor Rene Izquierdo, Mr. Behr was afforded the opportunity to participate in master classes by guitarists including The Assad Brothers, Jorge Caballero, Jerome Ducharme, Marcin Dylla, Evgenij Gridiushko, William Kanengiser, The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Lorenzo Micheli, Jorge Morel, and Michael Partington, among others. In addition to teaching, Mr Behr is a member of the Milwaukee Guitar Quartet and maintains an active performance schedule around Milwaukee and abroad. In 2008, Mr. Behr was asked by composer Carlos Rivera to record Cancion, his acclaimed solo work for classical guitar. In 2009, composer and guitarist Štepán Rak requested Mr. Behr to perform the American premiere of his new work titled Royal Suite. Mr. Behr was a recipient of the Dr. Shinichi Suzuki scholar award in 2010 and 2011. For more information, please visit his website behrguitar.com
Jennifer Burton has been teaching Suzuki violin lessons since 1977 and currently has a private Suzuki studio in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. She taught in Dallas from 1993 to 2006. Prior to this, Jenny had been employed for 17 years at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point where she received her Master of Music Education Degree with Suzuki Emphasis with Margery Aber. She has a Bachelor of Music Degree with K-12 Instrumental Music Emphasis from UW-Eau Claire and took Post-Graduate violin studies with Vartan Manoogian at UW-Madison.
Jenny has been a Suzuki violin clinician at over 150 workshops and institutes across the United States. She served 3-year term on the national board of the Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA) from 1996-1999. She served as the Chair of the SAA Regional and Local Associations Committee from 1992-1995, during which she wrote a column about Associations in the American Suzuki Journal. Jenny presented on panels given at the 2002, 2003 and 2004 SAA Teachers Conferences. Ms. Burton is a Past President of the North Texas Suzuki Association (NTSA), which she helped form in 1994. Jenny was the Co-Director of the TCU Suzuki Institute Fort Worth from 1999-2000. Ms. Burton was awarded the Outstanding Violin Teacher Award at the Colorado Suzuki Institute in June 2001 and was given the Distinguished Service Award by the NTSA in October, 2005. She has been the Co-Director of the Suzuki Association of Wisconsin Retreat for 2007-2009. In 2006, she published Sharpen Your Tools, a practice companion for Suzuki parents and teachers. This book helps beginning students polish and refine techniques in Suzuki Book 1 through Etude. Copies of the book will be available at the workshop.
Ms. Burton enjoys walking, bird watching, gardening, softball, cats, SCRABBLE, writing, collecting shells and papermaking. Jenny has an extensive baseball card collection, including a 1970’s softball card of herself as an All-Star of the Stevens Point Softball Association. Ms. Burton is a member of the Order of St. Luke, a multi-denominational healing ministry and plays regularly with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra.
Susan M. Chandler received her Bachelor of Fine Arts with string education certification from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee in 1972 and has since remained an advocate for string education in southeastern Wisconsin. Most recently, Susan has taught in various capacities on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater teaching string education, instrumental music methods and directing the Symphony Orchestra.
Susan taught in the districts of Racine, Kenosha, South Milwaukee, and Oak Creek. She instituted, and was the Suzuki instructor, at Racine Montessori School and had a private violin/viola studio of 60 students while in Racine. She was a string educator in the Kettle Moraine School District from 1986-2009 when she retired. During her tenure at KM, Susan was responsible for instituting advancements to building and growing the string program including an international musical/cultural exchange program with schools in England and Australia, major benefit events such as a “Lullaby Concert” benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation, annual dinner/dance/auction “Puttin’ On The Ritz” benefiting international trips, Summer Orchestras, a district Suzuki Program and a Chamber Orchestra with small ensemble/chamber music emphasis.
As a high school student, Susan played viola in the Music For Youth Orchestra. In 1984, she returned to MFY (later renamed Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra) as Co-Music Director of the String Orchestra. She continued to served the MYSO organization until 1994 in various capacities, Director of the MYSO Summer Camp, Music Director of Sinfonia Orchestra, Manager of Special Projects, and Music Coordinator. While an administrator, Susan was instrumental in expanding the MYSO Ensembles Program and in coordinating the 1991 MYSO Scotland Tour.
Susan is a member of the Music Educators National Conference and the American String Teachers Association. She has served as state Secretary, Treasurer, and Solo Competition Chair for the Wisconsin String Teachers Association. Over these years Susan has been a district and state adjudicator for the Wisconsin Music Educators Conference. She has served several times on the state Music Selection Committee as well as guest clinician for orchestra festivals in local school districts. Susan was the viola instructor for WSMA Honors Orchestra Project and began her first year as WMEA State Orchestra Representative in July 2002.
Susan has been a violist with the Racine Symphony Orchestra, Watertown Area Chamber Orchestra, the La Nova String Quartet, and her own Chandler family string ensemble. For 18 years, Susan was the Youth Minister at her parish, St. Bruno in Dousman. In 2001, she completed a Master of Arts Degree in Pastoral Studies from Saint Francis Seminary. She currently volunteers on various leadership committees in the parish.
Patricia D’Ercole is currently the Director of the Aber Suzuki Center at the UW-Stevens Point where she also teaches 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 September, 2010, Pat began the UWSP Suzuki Strings Mentoring Program, an online long-term mentoring program for Suzuki teachers to improve their teaching skills.
Sue Ellen Dubbert teaches Suzuki Piano in central Madison. Since completing her degree in music, she has completed training in Suzuki books one through five and plans to complete books 6 and 7 in 2012. In addition to private piano lessons, Sue Ellen is a registered Music Together teacher, a music class for children ages zero to five and their caregivers, as well as music enrichment classes for home school children. When she's not teaching, she enjoys playing music with her cellist-husband, Eric Miller, learning about Dalcroze Eurythmics, and knitting socks. This is her third year teaching and volunteering at the Suzuki Association of Wisconsin Winter Retreat.
Colleen Fitzgerald is director of the Barcel Suzuki String Academy located in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. For 15 years she has taught private and group violin lessons and this year she began teaching Suzuki Early Childhood Education classes at BSSA. During the year she is a frequent guest clinician at Suzuki weekend workshops throughout the Midwest and she adjudicates at the National Federation of Music Club's Junior Festival Auditions. Ms. Fitzgerald has taught students from all over the United States and Europe for the past 10 summers as a clinician at the Louisville Suzuki Institute-Kentucky, Suzuki Music Columbus Suzuki Institute-Ohio, and Montana Suzuki Strings Institute-Montana. In 2006, Ms. Fitzgerald received the Certificate of Excellence in Studio Teaching from the Civic Music Association of Milwaukee. Besides teaching, Ms. Fitzgerald has frequently performed as a soloist and as a member of a string trio for weddings, church services and other special occasions.
Ms. Fitzgerald began Suzuki violin lessons at age 6 and two years later continued her studies with Suzuki Teacher Trainer, Joan Rooney. She is a graduate of the University of Evansville where she studied under Suzuki pedagogue, Professor Carol Dallinger, and earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance with Suzuki Pedagogy. She has also received supplemental Suzuki teacher training at the American Suzuki Institute in Stevens Point, WI with Kay Collier-McLaughlin, Ed Kreitman, Tom Wermuth, and Alice Joy Lewis and acquired her Early Childhood Education training under Suzuki ECE Trainer, Dorothy Jones. Ms. Fitzgerald is a Suzuki Association of the Americas registered Suzuki violin and ECE instructor. In 2010 she earned her Masters of Arts in Teaching from Cardinal Stritch University.
Maria-Rosa Germain is a co-founder of Suzuki Strings of Madison and has taught violin for thirty years. She graduated from Michigan State University in 1980 with two Bachelor’s degrees:one in stringed instrument education and the other in violin performance. In 1983 she earned a Masters in Violin Performance from the University of Wisconsin, having studied with Vartan Manoogian and Tyrone Greive. She has played in the Lansing Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, Coloradao Philharmonic, Madison Symphony and free-lanced for years with her husband Glenn Germain. All of her Suzuki training has taken place at Stevens Point, WI (ASTEC) with Kay Slone, Doris Preucil, Craig Timmermann, Allen Lieb, Ed Kreitman, Pat D’Ercole and Marge Aber. Kyoko Fuller has also mentored her. She is the mother of two successful Suzuki trained young adult musicians.
Kari Gunderson has a Bachelor's degree from Oberlin College and her Doctor of Musical Arts from Indiana University. She has taught performance and string teacher training at Florida State University, Ohio State University, and Ohio Wesleyan. She's performed in Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, Opera Columbus, Ballet Met, and for such popular stars as Michael Jackson and Natalie Cole.
A co-founder of the Suzuki Association of Ohio, she's taught at the Columbus Suzuki regional institute and served as newsletter editor for the state organization. Twice she's served as string chair for the Ohio Music Teachers Association. Some of her students have gone on to the Cleveland Institute of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Yale University, Northwestern University, Indiana University, and Oberlin Conservatory of Music and successful musical careers.In 2010 she moved to northeast Milwaukee, where she teaches Suzuki classes and lessons and has found wonderful colleagues.
Randal Harrison performs, composes, records, cooks, fishes and builds stuff. He is also founder and director of the East Side Talent Education Association of Madison (ESTEAM). Randal grew up studying with Prof. Margery V. Aber, founder of the American Suzuki Institute (ASI). While attending the early years of ASI, Harrison had master classes with Dr. Shinichi Suzuki and studied with America’s pioneer Suzuki educators. As an adult he’s worked with iconic jazz and avant-garde bassist Richard Davis, jazz violinist Matt Glaser and SAA teacher trainers Pat D'Ercole and Michele Higa George. Harrison is a past president of the Suzuki Association of Wisconsin, an EMMY nominated composer and the Madison Area Music Awards‘ Blues, Classical and Jazz Artist of the Year. Question: Randal’s favorite violinist? Answer: His daughter Mika.
You can find Randal’s music at the website: http://stringfling.com or http://randalharrison.com
Heidi Kenney has been with the Suzuki Strings of Madison faculty since 2002. She is originally from North Carolina where she began her Suzuki violin studies with her mother, Lorraine Westermark, at the age of 3. She later on received her B.M in violin performance from the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, N.C. and M. M in violin performance with the emphasis in Suzuki Pedagogy from The Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT. She has completed her long term Suzuki teacher training with Teri Einfeldt and Linda Fiore at the Hartt School, where she also served as faculty with the Hartt Community Division teaching Suzuki violin and managing the Suzuki orchestras. She is former faculty at the Lawrence Arts Academy at Lawrence University and violinist of the Fox Valley Symphony in Appleton, WI. Her principal teachers include Lorraine Westermark, Joanne Bath, Elaine Richey, and Mitchell Stern.
Patty Ladpli is a Suzuki piano & cello teacher in the west side of Madison. She also offers Music Mind Games classes in her home studio for students of any instrument. She is an active member of Madison Area Piano Teachers Association and the National Federation of Music Clubs. When not teaching, she also enjoys accompanying and playing chamber music. Patty studied at Cornell College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, earning a Bachelor of Music and Masters of Music degrees, both in piano performance.
Charlene Melzer: I have had the opportunity to serve string students and their families in the Racine area for 32 years. It has been a privilege and an honor.
Eric Miller is a teacher and musician residing in Madison, Wisconsin. A registered Suzuki cello teacher, Eric maintains a cello studio in central Madison, and also teaches trumpet and viola da gamba. In addition, Eric serves as a strings teacher for the Madison Metropolitan School Distract and has taught viola da gamba at the Madison Early Music Festival for the past three years. As a viola da gambist, Eric has appeared with the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, Madison Bach Musicians, and Ensemble Musical Offering in addition to other notable baroque ensembles. In the 2010 and 2011 seasons, he appeared on stage as a cellist with American Players Theater in the production of The Gift of the Magi. Having long nurtured a love for improvised music, including jazz and folk idioms, he frequently takes part in a wide array of performance and recording projects. Having received early musical training in Omaha, Nebraska, Eric then pursued studies in cello and trumpet at Northern Illinois University where he earned his B. M. in Education. While there, he began self-directed viola da gamba study which has since been augmented by the input of many fine musicians from throughout the country. Eric went on to earn his M.M. in cello performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His primary cello studies have been with Marc Johnson of the Vermeer Quartet, Parry Karp of the Pro Arte Quartet, and Gregory Clinton of the Omaha Symphony.
Joan Molloy: Violin & Viola. Founder and Director of Heart Strings Studio, Joan Molloy studied at Bowling Green State University in Ohio and at the University of Minnesota, where she received a Bachelor of Music Degree in Performance. She went on to study Suzuki Method pedagogy and has completed Suzuki Teacher Development Units 1 through 8, Teacher Practicum, and many Overview and Teacher Enrichment Courses. Joan's teachers and influences include Alice Joy Lewis, Ronda Cole,Nancy Lokken, Mimi Zweig, Alex Shum, Aaron Janse, Edmund Sprunger and Young Nam Kim. Her students have gone on to study music at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, CalArts School of Music, University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota. As an educator Joan has served on the Suzuki Association of Minnesota Board and as Orchestra Director and String Instructor at the St. Croix Preparatory Academy in Stillwater Minnesota. In the summers she's taught at the Ottawa Suzuki Institute in Ottawa Kansas, the Chizibii Insttiute in Bemidji, Minnesota, and the String Retreat in Rapid City, South Dakota. A passionate performer and chamber musician, Joan is currently concertmaster of the Chippewa Valley Symphony in Eau Claire Wisconsin. Past experiences include assistant principal violinist in the Duluth Symphony orchestra, as concertmaster and soloist with the Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra. While Joan brings knowledge and expertise to her craft, what gives her great joy are encounters with students and their families: witnessing growth, celebrating success and finding joy in the process
Ann Marie Novak earned a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Oberlin College-Conservatory of Music. She holds a Master of Music from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She began her Suzuki training with Martha Stacy at Oberlin. She has pursued further studies with Haruko Kataoka, Valery Lloyd-Watts, Carole Bigler and Jasuko Joichi. Ms. Novak taught Suzuki Piano for nearly 10 years in Ohio and Massachusetts. While residing on the East Coast, she was the founding director of the Northampton Community Music Center and the Suzuki Department Coordinator at the Community Music School of Springfield. Ms. Novak moved to Stevens Point, Wisconsin in 1992, where she is on the faculty of the American Suzuki Talent Education Center at UWSP. She maintains a studio of over 40 students and accompanies string students in the ASTEC program. Ms. Novak also teaches at workshops around the country and at the American Suzuki Institute at Stevens Point.
Marie Pauls has been active as a private teacher, chamber music coach and performer in the Madison area since 1998. She holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Viola Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she studied with Professor Sally Chisholm. Marie has served on the SAW faculty since 2006. Her studies began at the age of three, as a Suzuki violin student. Throughout her evolution as a teacher, she had a natural gravitation toward the Suzuki philosophy. A two-time recipient of the David Einfeldt Memorial Teacher Training Scholarship, Marie has undergone extensive training in the Suzuki Method. She has had the privilege to study the method under the tutelage of nationally recognized pedagogues Patricia D’Ercole, Elizabeth Stuen-Walker, and William Preucil. As an educator, she is committed to promoting the arts in the schools and has presented in numerous Madison area school districts. Marie’s private studio ranges from age three to adult at beginning to advanced levels, and she enjoys the challenges of working with individuals at various stages of development. At the Music Educator’s National Conference, Marie performed in a joint presentation with Lewis Rosove, titled “Orchestra Audition Techniques and Preparation for Strings”. As a performer, Marie has served as violist in Quartessence String Quartet since 2002, is a founding member of the Kendalwood String Quartet, and is currently principal violist in the Beloit-Janesville Symphony Orchestra.
Julia Proleiko received her Bachelor of Music from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. After graduating, she began her study of (and eventual love for) the Suzuki Method, working teacher trainers Patricia D'Ercole (ECC), Joe Kaminsky & Ed Sprunger on violin and Carolyn Fraser, Rita Hauck, Joan Krzywicki & Cathy Hargrave on piano, as well as observing and learning from teachers all over the United States in workshops, institutes and in their private studios and schools. She has taught both in public and private schools as well as maintained a private studio since moving to St. Louis in 1997. In addition to her studio schedule, she and her husband un-school their two boys. When not doing music, she enjoys swimming, gardening, taking hikes with her family, doing yoga and volunteering/fostering for the St. Francois Society.
Julie Bamberger Roubik (Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, Suzuki/Chamber Music Coordinator) Wisconsin Conservatory of Music faculty member since 2009. B.M. summa cum laude, from the University of Minnesota and M.M. from the HARTT School of Music, both in viola performance and Suzuki pedagogy. Viola teachers include Roland Vamos, Korey Konkol, Victoria Chiang, and Lawrence Dutton of the Emerson String Quartet. A member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas, she has studied Suzuki pedagogy training, in both violin and viola, with Teri and David Einfeldt, Nancy Lokken, Mark Bjork, Carrie Reuning, Susan Kempter, and Betsy Stuen-Walker. Ms. Bamberger Roubik currently performs with Kenosha, Racine and Festival City Symphonies. Prior to moving back to Milwaukee, she was on the faculty of the Pasadena Suzuki Music Program in Pasadena, California, and was a member of the San Bernadino and Redlands, CaliforniaSymphony orchestras. Ms. Bamberger Roubik was also the violinist for Jane Seymour's Hollywood Star party and a back up musician for artists such as Brad Little, Lorna Luft, Rita Coolidge, and Keiko Matsui.
David Smith (violin/fiddle instructor Oshkosh Suzuki Music Program) Following two decades as a professional musician in Europe and Southeast Asia, fiddler and former Suzuki kid David Algeo Smith returned to the U.S. in 2001 and has since captured top-tier prizes on the Midwest regional and national fiddle contest circuits, winning 5th place at the ’04 National Old-Time Fiddlers’ Contest in Weiser, ID; 1st place in the ’03-’04 Nevada State Championship; 1st place in the ’04 Indiana State Hot Fiddle category; and numerous 2nd places in Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, and Georgia. He has taught at the South Carolina and Colorado Suzuki summer institutes and at numerous workshops in Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois and the U.S Virgin Islands. He is a proud graduate of Suzuki Books 1-4 as a teacher trainee under Nancy Lokken, Patricia D’Ercole, and Edmund Sprunger at the American Suzuki Institute in Stevens Point. Currently in his ninth year teaching at the Oshkosh Suzuki Music Program, this year David serves for his second year as Faculty Liaison at the Suzuki Association of Wisconsin’s annual winter retreat in Madison. He also serves on the SAW Executive Board as vice president.
Joseph Spoelstra is a Suzuki guitar teacher in Madison. He earned his Master's Degree in Classical Guitar Performance from the University of Southern California where he studied with William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant (founding members of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet), and Pepe Romero. He actively performs as soloist and chamber musician throughout the U.S. including L.A.'s historic Wilshire-Ebell Theater, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, and the Corbett Auditorium in Cincinnati. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Minnesota under the guidance of Jeffrey Van. He leads a growing and dedicated group of Madison's first Suzuki guitar studio. More information can be found at www.spoelstraguitar.com.
Flora van Wormer grew up in Ohio and Iowa, and has studied cello performance at the University of Northern Iowa and the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. Flora studied Suzuki pedagogy at various summer institutes through cello Book 5, and received long-term training at the School for Strings in New York City with cello teacher trainer, Pam Davenport for books 7-10. For the double bass, Flora took lessons in Iowa and Massachusetts, and has completed Suzuki teacher training up to Bass Book 2. On the side, Flora plays gudulka in a Bulgarian village band, Veseliyka, which is about to produce its first CD. They perform at Folk Ball and various other events around Madison.
Carol Waldvogel founded North Shore Suzuki Strings in 1990. Ms. Waldvogel holds a Master’s degree in Music Education, with an emphasis on the Suzuki method, from the University of Colorado and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Illinois State University, with an emphasis in composition and conducting. She is registered with the Suzuki Association of the Americas in violin, viola and cello. She 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 Suzuki Association of the Americas.
Ms. Waldvogel had the opportunity to study with Dr. Suzuki in Matsumoto, Japan. Her Master’s degree work was with William Starr, a renowned Suzuki pedagogue, and instrumental in introducing the Suzuki method in the United States. He is the author of many books, including The Suzuki Violinist and To Learn With Love.
Carol was awarded the Byron Hester Outstanding Faculty Award in 2004. She also was the recipient of the Suzuki Chair award in 2009 “in recognition of outstanding contributions in the field of Talent Education.” Carol has been a guest clinician and on the faculty at many Suzuki workshops and Suzuki summer institutes throughout the United States and Mexico.
Karen Zethmayr teaches Suzuki violin at Monroe Street Fine Arts Center in Madison, Wisconsin. After graduating from Lawrence University with a Bachelor's in Music she studied violin with Scott Willits at American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, and Georgio Silzer in Berlin. She got her introduction to the Suzuki philosophy and curriculum with Anastasia Jempelis at Eastman School of Music and taught in Eastman's preparatory department for three years after that.
SAW RETREAT 2012
Megan Aswegan: My love for music began early in my life. By age 4 my parents enrolled me in Suzuki violin lessons and soon I was involved in many different musical activities. I played flute in the school band, bass guitar in the jazz band and took violin lessons at the MacPhail Center for the Arts in Minneapolis, MN. I attended UW-Eau Claire and received a Bachelors of Music Education in 2001. In 2002 I accepted a job teaching elementary orchestra in the Mequon-Thiensville Public Schools where I am currently employed. I completed my Masters in Teaching Music from the University of Northern Arizona in 2006. I began teaching Suzuki violin lessons in 1999 and currently teach lessons from my home in Port Washington, WI.
David Becker, violist, received a Bachelor Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Master of Music from the Juilliard School. Mr. Becker has been principal violist with the Victoria and Saskatoon Symphony Orchestras in Canada and has performed with many other orchestras including the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra and the New Jersey and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestras. He has taught at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, the Brevard Music Center and numerous Suzuki Institutes.
Mr. Becker is currently the co-principal violist of the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra. He has been on the faculty of the Aber Suzuki Center at UW-Stevens Point since 1994 and is also an active accompanist in that program. Mr. Becker is also the founder and music director of the Central State Chamber Orchestra, now in its 14th season.
Jason Behr, Classical Guitar, Wisconsin Conservatory of Music faculty member since 2009. M.M. in classical guitar performance, Peck School of the Arts, UW-Milwaukee; B.F.A., UW-Milwaukee in collaboration with the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. Since the age of 18, Mr. Behr has been an active teacher and performer in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. While studying under Professor Rene Izquierdo, Mr. Behr was afforded the opportunity to participate in master classes by guitarists including The Assad Brothers, Jorge Caballero, Jerome Ducharme, Marcin Dylla, Evgenij Gridiushko, William Kanengiser, The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Lorenzo Micheli, Jorge Morel, and Michael Partington, among others. In addition to teaching, Mr Behr is a member of the Milwaukee Guitar Quartet and maintains an active performance schedule around Milwaukee and abroad. In 2008, Mr. Behr was asked by composer Carlos Rivera to record Cancion, his acclaimed solo work for classical guitar. In 2009, composer and guitarist Štepán Rak requested Mr. Behr to perform the American premiere of his new work titled Royal Suite. Mr. Behr was a recipient of the Dr. Shinichi Suzuki scholar award in 2010 and 2011. For more information, please visit his website behrguitar.com
Jennifer Burton has been teaching Suzuki violin lessons since 1977 and currently has a private Suzuki studio in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. She taught in Dallas from 1993 to 2006. Prior to this, Jenny had been employed for 17 years at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point where she received her Master of Music Education Degree with Suzuki Emphasis with Margery Aber. She has a Bachelor of Music Degree with K-12 Instrumental Music Emphasis from UW-Eau Claire and took Post-Graduate violin studies with Vartan Manoogian at UW-Madison.
Jenny has been a Suzuki violin clinician at over 150 workshops and institutes across the United States. She served 3-year term on the national board of the Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA) from 1996-1999. She served as the Chair of the SAA Regional and Local Associations Committee from 1992-1995, during which she wrote a column about Associations in the American Suzuki Journal. Jenny presented on panels given at the 2002, 2003 and 2004 SAA Teachers Conferences. Ms. Burton is a Past President of the North Texas Suzuki Association (NTSA), which she helped form in 1994. Jenny was the Co-Director of the TCU Suzuki Institute Fort Worth from 1999-2000. Ms. Burton was awarded the Outstanding Violin Teacher Award at the Colorado Suzuki Institute in June 2001 and was given the Distinguished Service Award by the NTSA in October, 2005. She has been the Co-Director of the Suzuki Association of Wisconsin Retreat for 2007-2009. In 2006, she published Sharpen Your Tools, a practice companion for Suzuki parents and teachers. This book helps beginning students polish and refine techniques in Suzuki Book 1 through Etude. Copies of the book will be available at the workshop.
Ms. Burton enjoys walking, bird watching, gardening, softball, cats, SCRABBLE, writing, collecting shells and papermaking. Jenny has an extensive baseball card collection, including a 1970’s softball card of herself as an All-Star of the Stevens Point Softball Association. Ms. Burton is a member of the Order of St. Luke, a multi-denominational healing ministry and plays regularly with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra.
Susan M. Chandler received her Bachelor of Fine Arts with string education certification from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee in 1972 and has since remained an advocate for string education in southeastern Wisconsin. Most recently, Susan has taught in various capacities on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater teaching string education, instrumental music methods and directing the Symphony Orchestra.
Susan taught in the districts of Racine, Kenosha, South Milwaukee, and Oak Creek. She instituted, and was the Suzuki instructor, at Racine Montessori School and had a private violin/viola studio of 60 students while in Racine. She was a string educator in the Kettle Moraine School District from 1986-2009 when she retired. During her tenure at KM, Susan was responsible for instituting advancements to building and growing the string program including an international musical/cultural exchange program with schools in England and Australia, major benefit events such as a “Lullaby Concert” benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation, annual dinner/dance/auction “Puttin’ On The Ritz” benefiting international trips, Summer Orchestras, a district Suzuki Program and a Chamber Orchestra with small ensemble/chamber music emphasis.
As a high school student, Susan played viola in the Music For Youth Orchestra. In 1984, she returned to MFY (later renamed Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra) as Co-Music Director of the String Orchestra. She continued to served the MYSO organization until 1994 in various capacities, Director of the MYSO Summer Camp, Music Director of Sinfonia Orchestra, Manager of Special Projects, and Music Coordinator. While an administrator, Susan was instrumental in expanding the MYSO Ensembles Program and in coordinating the 1991 MYSO Scotland Tour.
Susan is a member of the Music Educators National Conference and the American String Teachers Association. She has served as state Secretary, Treasurer, and Solo Competition Chair for the Wisconsin String Teachers Association. Over these years Susan has been a district and state adjudicator for the Wisconsin Music Educators Conference. She has served several times on the state Music Selection Committee as well as guest clinician for orchestra festivals in local school districts. Susan was the viola instructor for WSMA Honors Orchestra Project and began her first year as WMEA State Orchestra Representative in July 2002.
Susan has been a violist with the Racine Symphony Orchestra, Watertown Area Chamber Orchestra, the La Nova String Quartet, and her own Chandler family string ensemble. For 18 years, Susan was the Youth Minister at her parish, St. Bruno in Dousman. In 2001, she completed a Master of Arts Degree in Pastoral Studies from Saint Francis Seminary. She currently volunteers on various leadership committees in the parish.
Patricia D’Ercole is currently the Director of the Aber Suzuki Center at the UW-Stevens Point where she also teaches 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 September, 2010, Pat began the UWSP Suzuki Strings Mentoring Program, an online long-term mentoring program for Suzuki teachers to improve their teaching skills.
Sue Ellen Dubbert teaches Suzuki Piano in central Madison. Since completing her degree in music, she has completed training in Suzuki books one through five and plans to complete books 6 and 7 in 2012. In addition to private piano lessons, Sue Ellen is a registered Music Together teacher, a music class for children ages zero to five and their caregivers, as well as music enrichment classes for home school children. When she's not teaching, she enjoys playing music with her cellist-husband, Eric Miller, learning about Dalcroze Eurythmics, and knitting socks. This is her third year teaching and volunteering at the Suzuki Association of Wisconsin Winter Retreat.
Colleen Fitzgerald is director of the Barcel Suzuki String Academy located in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. For 15 years she has taught private and group violin lessons and this year she began teaching Suzuki Early Childhood Education classes at BSSA. During the year she is a frequent guest clinician at Suzuki weekend workshops throughout the Midwest and she adjudicates at the National Federation of Music Club's Junior Festival Auditions. Ms. Fitzgerald has taught students from all over the United States and Europe for the past 10 summers as a clinician at the Louisville Suzuki Institute-Kentucky, Suzuki Music Columbus Suzuki Institute-Ohio, and Montana Suzuki Strings Institute-Montana. In 2006, Ms. Fitzgerald received the Certificate of Excellence in Studio Teaching from the Civic Music Association of Milwaukee. Besides teaching, Ms. Fitzgerald has frequently performed as a soloist and as a member of a string trio for weddings, church services and other special occasions.
Ms. Fitzgerald began Suzuki violin lessons at age 6 and two years later continued her studies with Suzuki Teacher Trainer, Joan Rooney. She is a graduate of the University of Evansville where she studied under Suzuki pedagogue, Professor Carol Dallinger, and earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance with Suzuki Pedagogy. She has also received supplemental Suzuki teacher training at the American Suzuki Institute in Stevens Point, WI with Kay Collier-McLaughlin, Ed Kreitman, Tom Wermuth, and Alice Joy Lewis and acquired her Early Childhood Education training under Suzuki ECE Trainer, Dorothy Jones. Ms. Fitzgerald is a Suzuki Association of the Americas registered Suzuki violin and ECE instructor. In 2010 she earned her Masters of Arts in Teaching from Cardinal Stritch University.
Maria-Rosa Germain is a co-founder of Suzuki Strings of Madison and has taught violin for thirty years. She graduated from Michigan State University in 1980 with two Bachelor’s degrees:one in stringed instrument education and the other in violin performance. In 1983 she earned a Masters in Violin Performance from the University of Wisconsin, having studied with Vartan Manoogian and Tyrone Greive. She has played in the Lansing Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, Coloradao Philharmonic, Madison Symphony and free-lanced for years with her husband Glenn Germain. All of her Suzuki training has taken place at Stevens Point, WI (ASTEC) with Kay Slone, Doris Preucil, Craig Timmermann, Allen Lieb, Ed Kreitman, Pat D’Ercole and Marge Aber. Kyoko Fuller has also mentored her. She is the mother of two successful Suzuki trained young adult musicians.
Kari Gunderson has a Bachelor's degree from Oberlin College and her Doctor of Musical Arts from Indiana University. She has taught performance and string teacher training at Florida State University, Ohio State University, and Ohio Wesleyan. She's performed in Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, Opera Columbus, Ballet Met, and for such popular stars as Michael Jackson and Natalie Cole.
A co-founder of the Suzuki Association of Ohio, she's taught at the Columbus Suzuki regional institute and served as newsletter editor for the state organization. Twice she's served as string chair for the Ohio Music Teachers Association. Some of her students have gone on to the Cleveland Institute of Music, Manhattan School of Music, Yale University, Northwestern University, Indiana University, and Oberlin Conservatory of Music and successful musical careers.In 2010 she moved to northeast Milwaukee, where she teaches Suzuki classes and lessons and has found wonderful colleagues.
Randal Harrison performs, composes, records, cooks, fishes and builds stuff. He is also founder and director of the East Side Talent Education Association of Madison (ESTEAM). Randal grew up studying with Prof. Margery V. Aber, founder of the American Suzuki Institute (ASI). While attending the early years of ASI, Harrison had master classes with Dr. Shinichi Suzuki and studied with America’s pioneer Suzuki educators. As an adult he’s worked with iconic jazz and avant-garde bassist Richard Davis, jazz violinist Matt Glaser and SAA teacher trainers Pat D'Ercole and Michele Higa George. Harrison is a past president of the Suzuki Association of Wisconsin, an EMMY nominated composer and the Madison Area Music Awards‘ Blues, Classical and Jazz Artist of the Year. Question: Randal’s favorite violinist? Answer: His daughter Mika.
You can find Randal’s music at the website: http://stringfling.com or http://randalharrison.com
Heidi Kenney has been with the Suzuki Strings of Madison faculty since 2002. She is originally from North Carolina where she began her Suzuki violin studies with her mother, Lorraine Westermark, at the age of 3. She later on received her B.M in violin performance from the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, N.C. and M. M in violin performance with the emphasis in Suzuki Pedagogy from The Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT. She has completed her long term Suzuki teacher training with Teri Einfeldt and Linda Fiore at the Hartt School, where she also served as faculty with the Hartt Community Division teaching Suzuki violin and managing the Suzuki orchestras. She is former faculty at the Lawrence Arts Academy at Lawrence University and violinist of the Fox Valley Symphony in Appleton, WI. Her principal teachers include Lorraine Westermark, Joanne Bath, Elaine Richey, and Mitchell Stern.
Patty Ladpli is a Suzuki piano & cello teacher in the west side of Madison. She also offers Music Mind Games classes in her home studio for students of any instrument. She is an active member of Madison Area Piano Teachers Association and the National Federation of Music Clubs. When not teaching, she also enjoys accompanying and playing chamber music. Patty studied at Cornell College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, earning a Bachelor of Music and Masters of Music degrees, both in piano performance.
Charlene Melzer: I have had the opportunity to serve string students and their families in the Racine area for 32 years. It has been a privilege and an honor.
Eric Miller is a teacher and musician residing in Madison, Wisconsin. A registered Suzuki cello teacher, Eric maintains a cello studio in central Madison, and also teaches trumpet and viola da gamba. In addition, Eric serves as a strings teacher for the Madison Metropolitan School Distract and has taught viola da gamba at the Madison Early Music Festival for the past three years. As a viola da gambist, Eric has appeared with the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, Madison Bach Musicians, and Ensemble Musical Offering in addition to other notable baroque ensembles. In the 2010 and 2011 seasons, he appeared on stage as a cellist with American Players Theater in the production of The Gift of the Magi. Having long nurtured a love for improvised music, including jazz and folk idioms, he frequently takes part in a wide array of performance and recording projects. Having received early musical training in Omaha, Nebraska, Eric then pursued studies in cello and trumpet at Northern Illinois University where he earned his B. M. in Education. While there, he began self-directed viola da gamba study which has since been augmented by the input of many fine musicians from throughout the country. Eric went on to earn his M.M. in cello performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His primary cello studies have been with Marc Johnson of the Vermeer Quartet, Parry Karp of the Pro Arte Quartet, and Gregory Clinton of the Omaha Symphony.
Joan Molloy: Violin & Viola. Founder and Director of Heart Strings Studio, Joan Molloy studied at Bowling Green State University in Ohio and at the University of Minnesota, where she received a Bachelor of Music Degree in Performance. She went on to study Suzuki Method pedagogy and has completed Suzuki Teacher Development Units 1 through 8, Teacher Practicum, and many Overview and Teacher Enrichment Courses. Joan's teachers and influences include Alice Joy Lewis, Ronda Cole,Nancy Lokken, Mimi Zweig, Alex Shum, Aaron Janse, Edmund Sprunger and Young Nam Kim. Her students have gone on to study music at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, CalArts School of Music, University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota. As an educator Joan has served on the Suzuki Association of Minnesota Board and as Orchestra Director and String Instructor at the St. Croix Preparatory Academy in Stillwater Minnesota. In the summers she's taught at the Ottawa Suzuki Institute in Ottawa Kansas, the Chizibii Insttiute in Bemidji, Minnesota, and the String Retreat in Rapid City, South Dakota. A passionate performer and chamber musician, Joan is currently concertmaster of the Chippewa Valley Symphony in Eau Claire Wisconsin. Past experiences include assistant principal violinist in the Duluth Symphony orchestra, as concertmaster and soloist with the Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra. While Joan brings knowledge and expertise to her craft, what gives her great joy are encounters with students and their families: witnessing growth, celebrating success and finding joy in the process
Ann Marie Novak earned a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at Oberlin College-Conservatory of Music. She holds a Master of Music from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She began her Suzuki training with Martha Stacy at Oberlin. She has pursued further studies with Haruko Kataoka, Valery Lloyd-Watts, Carole Bigler and Jasuko Joichi. Ms. Novak taught Suzuki Piano for nearly 10 years in Ohio and Massachusetts. While residing on the East Coast, she was the founding director of the Northampton Community Music Center and the Suzuki Department Coordinator at the Community Music School of Springfield. Ms. Novak moved to Stevens Point, Wisconsin in 1992, where she is on the faculty of the American Suzuki Talent Education Center at UWSP. She maintains a studio of over 40 students and accompanies string students in the ASTEC program. Ms. Novak also teaches at workshops around the country and at the American Suzuki Institute at Stevens Point.
Marie Pauls has been active as a private teacher, chamber music coach and performer in the Madison area since 1998. She holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Viola Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she studied with Professor Sally Chisholm. Marie has served on the SAW faculty since 2006. Her studies began at the age of three, as a Suzuki violin student. Throughout her evolution as a teacher, she had a natural gravitation toward the Suzuki philosophy. A two-time recipient of the David Einfeldt Memorial Teacher Training Scholarship, Marie has undergone extensive training in the Suzuki Method. She has had the privilege to study the method under the tutelage of nationally recognized pedagogues Patricia D’Ercole, Elizabeth Stuen-Walker, and William Preucil. As an educator, she is committed to promoting the arts in the schools and has presented in numerous Madison area school districts. Marie’s private studio ranges from age three to adult at beginning to advanced levels, and she enjoys the challenges of working with individuals at various stages of development. At the Music Educator’s National Conference, Marie performed in a joint presentation with Lewis Rosove, titled “Orchestra Audition Techniques and Preparation for Strings”. As a performer, Marie has served as violist in Quartessence String Quartet since 2002, is a founding member of the Kendalwood String Quartet, and is currently principal violist in the Beloit-Janesville Symphony Orchestra.
Julia Proleiko received her Bachelor of Music from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. After graduating, she began her study of (and eventual love for) the Suzuki Method, working teacher trainers Patricia D'Ercole (ECC), Joe Kaminsky & Ed Sprunger on violin and Carolyn Fraser, Rita Hauck, Joan Krzywicki & Cathy Hargrave on piano, as well as observing and learning from teachers all over the United States in workshops, institutes and in their private studios and schools. She has taught both in public and private schools as well as maintained a private studio since moving to St. Louis in 1997. In addition to her studio schedule, she and her husband un-school their two boys. When not doing music, she enjoys swimming, gardening, taking hikes with her family, doing yoga and volunteering/fostering for the St. Francois Society.
Julie Bamberger Roubik (Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, Suzuki/Chamber Music Coordinator) Wisconsin Conservatory of Music faculty member since 2009. B.M. summa cum laude, from the University of Minnesota and M.M. from the HARTT School of Music, both in viola performance and Suzuki pedagogy. Viola teachers include Roland Vamos, Korey Konkol, Victoria Chiang, and Lawrence Dutton of the Emerson String Quartet. A member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas, she has studied Suzuki pedagogy training, in both violin and viola, with Teri and David Einfeldt, Nancy Lokken, Mark Bjork, Carrie Reuning, Susan Kempter, and Betsy Stuen-Walker. Ms. Bamberger Roubik currently performs with Kenosha, Racine and Festival City Symphonies. Prior to moving back to Milwaukee, she was on the faculty of the Pasadena Suzuki Music Program in Pasadena, California, and was a member of the San Bernadino and Redlands, CaliforniaSymphony orchestras. Ms. Bamberger Roubik was also the violinist for Jane Seymour's Hollywood Star party and a back up musician for artists such as Brad Little, Lorna Luft, Rita Coolidge, and Keiko Matsui.
David Smith (violin/fiddle instructor Oshkosh Suzuki Music Program) Following two decades as a professional musician in Europe and Southeast Asia, fiddler and former Suzuki kid David Algeo Smith returned to the U.S. in 2001 and has since captured top-tier prizes on the Midwest regional and national fiddle contest circuits, winning 5th place at the ’04 National Old-Time Fiddlers’ Contest in Weiser, ID; 1st place in the ’03-’04 Nevada State Championship; 1st place in the ’04 Indiana State Hot Fiddle category; and numerous 2nd places in Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, and Georgia. He has taught at the South Carolina and Colorado Suzuki summer institutes and at numerous workshops in Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois and the U.S Virgin Islands. He is a proud graduate of Suzuki Books 1-4 as a teacher trainee under Nancy Lokken, Patricia D’Ercole, and Edmund Sprunger at the American Suzuki Institute in Stevens Point. Currently in his ninth year teaching at the Oshkosh Suzuki Music Program, this year David serves for his second year as Faculty Liaison at the Suzuki Association of Wisconsin’s annual winter retreat in Madison. He also serves on the SAW Executive Board as vice president.
Joseph Spoelstra is a Suzuki guitar teacher in Madison. He earned his Master's Degree in Classical Guitar Performance from the University of Southern California where he studied with William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant (founding members of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet), and Pepe Romero. He actively performs as soloist and chamber musician throughout the U.S. including L.A.'s historic Wilshire-Ebell Theater, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, and the Corbett Auditorium in Cincinnati. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Minnesota under the guidance of Jeffrey Van. He leads a growing and dedicated group of Madison's first Suzuki guitar studio. More information can be found at www.spoelstraguitar.com.
Flora van Wormer grew up in Ohio and Iowa, and has studied cello performance at the University of Northern Iowa and the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. Flora studied Suzuki pedagogy at various summer institutes through cello Book 5, and received long-term training at the School for Strings in New York City with cello teacher trainer, Pam Davenport for books 7-10. For the double bass, Flora took lessons in Iowa and Massachusetts, and has completed Suzuki teacher training up to Bass Book 2. On the side, Flora plays gudulka in a Bulgarian village band, Veseliyka, which is about to produce its first CD. They perform at Folk Ball and various other events around Madison.
Carol Waldvogel founded North Shore Suzuki Strings in 1990. Ms. Waldvogel holds a Master’s degree in Music Education, with an emphasis on the Suzuki method, from the University of Colorado and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Illinois State University, with an emphasis in composition and conducting. She is registered with the Suzuki Association of the Americas in violin, viola and cello. She 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 Suzuki Association of the Americas.
Ms. Waldvogel had the opportunity to study with Dr. Suzuki in Matsumoto, Japan. Her Master’s degree work was with William Starr, a renowned Suzuki pedagogue, and instrumental in introducing the Suzuki method in the United States. He is the author of many books, including The Suzuki Violinist and To Learn With Love.
Carol was awarded the Byron Hester Outstanding Faculty Award in 2004. She also was the recipient of the Suzuki Chair award in 2009 “in recognition of outstanding contributions in the field of Talent Education.” Carol has been a guest clinician and on the faculty at many Suzuki workshops and Suzuki summer institutes throughout the United States and Mexico.
Karen Zethmayr teaches Suzuki violin at Monroe Street Fine Arts Center in Madison, Wisconsin. After graduating from Lawrence University with a Bachelor's in Music she studied violin with Scott Willits at American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, and Georgio Silzer in Berlin. She got her introduction to the Suzuki philosophy and curriculum with Anastasia Jempelis at Eastman School of Music and taught in Eastman's preparatory department for three years after that.
