Breana Bauman
Carlough Faulkner-Carroll
Alicia Casey
Rachel Fabulich
Aimee Morrill Briant
Betsy Kobayashi
Mark Smith
Alexandra Hadden
Yasmin Vitalius received her Bachelor of Arts in Music, Science and Technology from Stanford University with a double concentration in violin performance and composition. Upon graduation, she was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study Turkish Folk music in Ankara, Turkey where she also performed with the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra. She received her Masters of Music in Violin Performance from the Eastman School of Music under teachers Zvi Zeitlin and Ilya Kayler. Ms. Vitalius was a fellow with the New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas from 2001-2004.
Growing up in the small town of Vassalboro Maine, Gabriel was drawn to the philosophy of the Suzuki Method from an early age. In Maine Gabriel studied the Violin and Viola with Ellen Gawler and Betsy Kobayashi gaining a greater understanding of the Suzuki Method and also fiddling. Later on Gabriel obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Hartford – Hartt School in Viola Performance where he studied with Steve Larson and Rita Porfiris. A few other teachers with whom he studied were Stephen Wyrczynski, Heidi Castleman, David Holland, Jutta Puchammer, Chancy Paterson, David Dalton. While studying at Hartt Gabriel simultaneously got his long term Suzuki training from Teri Einfeldt. Melinda Daestch has also been a strong influence in his pedagogical training as well. Having taught and performed through all of New England, Gabriel is a frequent performer in the freelance scene.
Carlough Faulkner-Carroll discovered her love of teaching when she began tutoring younger violin students as a high school student. After 20 years teaching full-time, she still gets just as excited every time a student gets the shining look that says "I've got it!”
Dr. Jeremy Dittus
Aimee Morrill Briant graduated with a BA degree in violin performance from the Hartt School of Music (Hartford, CT). She completed her long-term teacher training from the Suzuki pedagogy program at Hartt, where she was a student of Linda Fiore, Teri Einfeldt, and Brian Lewis, and has continued her training with short courses led by such teachers as Ronda Cole, Joanne Melvin, Carol Sykes, and Carrie Reuning-Hummel. A Maine native and “Suzuki kid” herself, Aimee began violin at age three with Clorinda Noyes. She started her first violin studio in 1996 and has taught in Bangor, ME, East Hartford, CT, and at the Suzuki School of Newton in Newton, MA. She moved to northern New Jersey in 2006, where she started the Crescendo Suzuki Studio. She is a coordinator and teacher at workshops throughout the US and Mexico, and is most recently the director for the New Jersey Suzuki Workshop and on faculty at the New England Suzuki Institute. She is an energetic chamber musician and freelances as an orchestral, chamber, and English folk dance musician. She resides in Mine Hill, NJ with her husband, daughter, and coonhound.
Breana Bauman believes: diversity and representation matter in music education, every child should have the opportunity to study music with highly trained, enthusiastic teachers, and nurturing excellence over a perfectionist mindset will foster creative change-maker executive skills. As the Founder and Director of Cambridge Suzuki School of Music in Massachusetts, an anti-racist program, she believes in coaching families in communication and consistency, to create the diversity, inclusion, and emergence that will make our world a better place for everyone.
Breana holds violin performance degrees from Boston University, Cleveland Institute of Music, and Oberlin Conservatory. Her performance studies were with Bayla Keyes, Malcolm Lowe, Steve Rose, Roger Chase and Kyung Sun Lee. Breana is an avid chamber musician and enthusiastic concertmaster, who regularly sat first chair as a fellow at Tanglewood Music Center in MA and was even reviewed in the
New York Times!
Breana’s Suzuki Pedagogy Studies were with with Kimberly Meier-Sims (long-term, double-major during her Masters at CIM), Christophe Bossuat (Director of the European Suzuki Association), and has taken multiple professional development courses with Ed Spunger, the SAA SPA course with David Madsen, Music Mind Games with Michiko Yurko, and Growing Equitable Music Studios (GEMS) with Clara Hardie. Since the COVID global pandemic, she has taken numerous enrichment courses online!
Breana’s extracurricular activities include gardening, sewing garments, knitting, cycling, and sailing. She practices SuJo Method to manage previous violin-related injuries and prioritizes healthy movement in her teaching.
Alicia Casey
is an internationally sought-after Suzuki educator and concert violinist originally hailing from Australia. Alicia directs the Suzuki Program at the Upper Valley Music Center, where she has taught since 2010, and oversees a program of 120 students in cello, viola, and violin.
Mark Smith, a native of Michigan, has been a Suzuki teacher for over 35 years. His philosophy "Every child deserves to be seen, valued and appreciated", continues to be at the core of his teaching life. He has taught in the Needham Pubic Schools for the past 11 years where he is the strings teacher from grades 3 through 8. He has a Bachelor of Music degree in Viola performance from Indiana University, and a Master of Music Degree in Viola Performance from New England Conservatory. Mr Smith has taught at Phillips Academy in Andover Massachusetts, The Suzuki School of Newton, The New England Conservatory of Music, MIT, the Longy School of Music, as well as his own private music studio in Needham Massachusetts. As a Suzuki teacher, he has taught at summer institutes around the country.
Jaroslaw Lis received his M.A. summa cum laude from the Frederic Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, Poland and was a recipient of the prestigious Polish Ministry of Culture scholarship. As a youngest member of the Sinfonia Varsovia he has worked with Yehudi Menuhin, Krzysztof Penderecki and Emannuel Krivine as well as recorded for Denon and Aperto
labels. He received an Artist Diploma and Master of Music degrees from the Yale School of Music. He has studied with Jan Jakuc, Wojciech Malinski, Zofia Kuberska, Julia Jakimowicz,
Krzysztof Jakowicz, Syoko Aki and the Tokyo String Quartet, and was a scholarship student of Nathan Milstein (Zurich, Switzerland). He has been a member of the Assai and Essex Quartets, receiving Second Prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition with the Assai Quartet. He recorded on Roesch Records with Assai Quartet and Ahmad Jamal. He has been on the faculty of the Madeline Island Music Camp, the Palisade Arts Festival, Friends of Music
Camp in South Korea and is a former director of the Music Adventure Camp at Tenuta di Spannocchia in Tuscany. He is currently an acting Principal second violin of the Hartford
Symphony Orchestra. He is a chamber music director as well as conductor of the chamber orchestra of Music Academy International in Trentino, Italy. He teaches at Trinity College, and
Hartt School Community Division.
Pianist Arthur Villar
was born in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) in June 1984. He started his studies in piano, chamber music, theory and conducting in 2004, at the age of 21, at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and joined the piano studio of Miriam Grossman, a renowned Brazilian pianist and pedagogue. Among his achievements, he won the first prize in the Souza Lima National Piano Competition in São Paulo (Brazil), in 2007, for his piano performing and musical excellence and performed in 2009 Bach’s twenty-four preludes and fugues at the Forum Internacional del Piano de Barcelona. In February 2008 Arthur Villar was granted a scholarship to pursue his Bachelor's degree in Piano Performance at the Hartt School (University of Hartford, CT) under the tutelage of Luiz de Moura Castro.
Chiharu Naruse holds a Masters Degree in Music Performance and a Masters Degree in Music Instruction from the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin, Germany. In Berlin, Naruse studied piano under Klaus Bäßler and Lied Accompaniment under Wolfram Riegar. Naruse has performed throughout the world in recitals and piano competitions, including a piano concert to benefit Amnesty International in Germany, the Hyogo Piano Competition in Japan (silver prize), the Clara Haskil piano competition in Switzerland, the Pescara Academie Piano Competition in Italy and the International Mozart Wettbewerb in Salzburg Austria.
In the spring of 2002, Naruse moved to the United States to study under Frank Glazer. Since her arrival, Naruse has given several recitals at Bates College and Bowdoin College. She has also collaborated with the Portland String Quartet, the DaPonte String Quartet and Frank Glazer. She has performed Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto, Mozart’s Piano Concerto K466, and the Rachmaninoff Second Piano Concerto with the Augusta Symphony and toured with the Maine Pro Musica Ensemble under conductor Janna Hymes, performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3. In addition, Naruse appeared as a featured artist at the Ocean Park Music Festival and the Franco-American Heritage Center.
Malgosia Lis earned her Master of Music in Piano Pedagogy at the Paderewski University of Music in Poznan, Poland. She is a faculty member at the Hartt School Community Division in West Hartford, CT, where she is the Coordinator for the Suzuki Piano Department, Piano coordinator for the Chamber Music program, and the Piano Coordinator for the Hartt Suzuki Summer Institute. She was the Coordinator of "Suzuki in the Dolomites Festival" in Italy, in July of 2016 and 2017. The Suzuki in the Dolomites was approved by the European Suzuki Association and Italian Suzuki Institute and is part of a large Mezzano Romantica, Music Academy International Festival.Malgosia was the Piano Coordinator for the 2012 Suzuki Conference of Americas in Minneapolis, MN. Her Suzuki training has been with Yasuko Joichi, Francoise Pierredon, Doris Koppelman, Doris Harrel, and Mary Craig Powell. Her students participated and received numerous prizes at piano competitions and festivals and were were selected to perform at the Suzuki Conference Masterclasses and concerts every conference since 2010. She was also coordinator fo the Carnival of the Animals project at the 2018 Suzuki Conference. Malgosia is frequently invited as a masterclass teacher/clinician for Piano Workshops and Institutes. She collaborated with Mirror Visions Ensemble and performed at the Polish Library in Paris, France. She particularly enjoys performing music for multiple hands/pianos. She is the founding member and a board member of Hartford Music Teachers Alliance. Malgosia lives in West Hartford with her violinist husband and has three lovely children ages, 27, 23, and 17.
Alyssa Lawson holds a master's degree in Cello Performance from Boston University, where she studied with Michael Reynolds. She is a Fulbright scholar (Belgium, 2009-2010) with a B.A. in Music from Swarthmore College and an M.A. in Ethnomusicology from UCLA. Alyssa has completed Suzuki teacher training in all ten volumes, primarily with Nancy Hair and David Evenchick. Alyssa teaches at her home studio in Watertown, MA as well as at the Suzuki School of Newton. She is a founding member of Cellos on the Charles, a group that supports cello education in Eastern Massachusetts. Alyssa has performed with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, the Morning Architect, and many chamber ensembles.
Jennifer Girone-Virgilio is the Head of the Suzuki Cello/Bass Department and the Suzuki Program Coordinator at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. She is on faculty at the New England Conservatory Prep Division, New England Suzuki Institute in Waterville, ME, and maintains her own private studio. Her students have been accepted into such prestigious programs as the Special Music School, LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts, Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, Interlochen Arts Academy, Manhattan School of Music Summer, Ithaca College Summer Music Academy, and NYU SummerStrings. Jennifer completed training in Suzuki Cello Books 1-8 from the School for Strings with Pamela Devenport, and Books 9-10 with Tanya Carey.
Rachel Fabulich is a registered Suzuki Viola, Violin and Suzuki Early Childhood Education teacher. She is the director of Suzuki MetroWest, and teaches at the New England Conservatory of Music Preparatory School, in Boston, MA. She was born and raised in a small farming community in northern Illinois, where she was fortunate to be able to start playing Suzuki violin and viola at a young age. As a performer she has played on stages across North America, Europe, and Japan. An avid Suzuki teacher, Ms. Fabulich has been a clinician at programs, institutes, and workshops around the country. She was a viola coordinator for the Suzuki Association of the Americas 2014 and 2016 Conferences and has served on the board of directors for the Suzuki Music Association of California, Los Angeles. She has been on the faculties of the the Pasadena Conservatory of Music and Westridge School in Pasadena, CA, and the Music Institute of Chicago.
Becky Hanaburgh has been teaching general and choral music in Maine public
schools for nearly thirty years. Most recently, she teaches general music to
grades 3-5, and directs the FES Small Group vocal ensemble at Falmouth
Elementary School. She holds a B.A. in music from Cairn University and a
Masters in Ed. from Lesely University. In addition, Becky is a National Board
Certified teacher in Music-Early and Middle Childhood and is an Orff Schulwerk
certified teacher. Becky currently sings with the acappella group, Maineblend,
and performs locally as a soprano soloist and accompanist. She lives in Gray
with her husband, daughter, and menagerie of furry friends.
Rachel Fabulich is a registered Suzuki Viola, Violin and Suzuki Early Childhood Education teacher. She is the director of Suzuki MetroWest, and teaches at the New England Conservatory of Music Preparatory School, in Boston, MA. She was born and raised in a small farming community in northern Illinois, where she was fortunate to be able to start playing Suzuki violin and viola at a young age. As a performer she has played on stages across North America, Europe, and Japan. An avid Suzuki teacher, Ms. Fabulich has been a clinician at programs, institutes, and workshops around the country. She was a viola coordinator for the Suzuki Association of the Americas 2014 and 2016 Conferences and has served on the board of directors for the Suzuki Music Association of California, Los Angeles. She has been on the faculties of the the Pasadena Conservatory of Music and Westridge School in Pasadena, CA, and the Music Institute of Chicago.
Dick Noyes attended the Hartt College of Music, University of Hartford (CT), then acquired a BA from the State University of New York at Albany, and went on to earn a Master of Music from the University of Maine, Orono. His Suzuki teacher training was with Jean Dexter and Yvonne Tait. He was the public school string instrumental teacher for Brewer, ME public schools from 1975-1983 and then held the same position in the Windham, ME public schools from 1983-1992. He conducted the Portland Youth Symphony and its string training orchestra component from Sept 1983 to June 1997. He has held the assistant principal cello chair position of the Portland Symphony Orchestra since September 1983 and is a cellist with PORT, the opera in Maine. He is founder and performer for Encore! providing music for special occasions. He has had a private Suzuki cello studio in Portland since 1983. He has been a faculty member of the New England Suzuki Institute since the late 1980's and of the Western Massachusetts Suzuki Institute in Northampton July 1999 - 2014.
St. Louis, Missouri native, Bruce Walker, currently serves as Assistant Professor of Music at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, Washington. Duties include teaching courses in Western Music History, second year Music Theory, Advance Aural Skills, and Director of the Columbia Basin College Orchestra. He is also Music Director for the Yakima Youth Symphony Orchestra, Cover Conductor for the Yakima Symphony Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor and Conductor of Preparatory Orchestras for the Oregon East Symphony. He has previously served as Director of Orchestral Activities for the Sunnyside School District in Sunnyside, Washington, Conductor for the Kittitas Valley Youth Orchestra, Co-conductor of the Ellensburg Campus-Community Orchestra, Director of the Central Washington University Music Preparatory Strings Program, and cello/conducting intern for the Marrowstone Music Festival.
Michele is an internationally recognized guitar teacher who began teaching the Suzuki method in the year 2000. She has worked with hundreds of children and families throughout her career, now entering its 21st year. Michele completed her Suzuki guitar training with the creators of the Suzuki guitar pedagogy: Frank Longay and Bill Kossler; as well as David Madsen (University of Hartford) and Andrea Cannon (TX). Prior to her Suzuki training, she studied for four years with Kevin Gallagher (1993 GFA winner) and for two years with Frederic Hand (award winning composer and long time guitarist of the Metropolitan Opera).
Laura Nerenberg is an improvisation pedagogy coach for musicians and music teachers. She fervently believes that all musicians should receive improvisation training as an integral part of their education.
Chuck Speicher currently teaches general music at Cole Manor Elementary School in the Norristown Area School District of Pennsylvania. Between 2012 and 2014 he was curriculum director to a national non-profit called Little Kids Rock where he had the opportunity to work alongside popular music icons such as Bruce Springsteen, Lady Ga-Ga, Bryan Wilson, Elvis Costello, and Carlos Santana among others in fundraising efforts for public school music programs across the country. His teaching and performing engagements have included the Newburyport Chamber Music Festival, the New England Conservatory Suzuki Workshop in Boston, the Wellington Suzuki Workshop in New Zealand, the Suzuki Institute of Alaska, the International Music Festival in Ohio, the South Carolina Suzuki Institute at Furman University, the More Than Music Festival in Kingston, Ontario, the Peaks to Plains Institute in Colorado, the Indianapolis Academy of Music Summer Festival, the Summer Jazz Workshop at Montclair State University, and the Stokes State Forest Music Festival in New Jersey. In 2006 he was a judge in the Alaska State MTNA Piano Competition and adjudicator for piano students in the cities of Anchorage and Homer. Chuck freelances regularly on piano, keyboard, and guitar, and in 2002 traveled with the "Crazy Energy Orchestra" to Morocco to perform at the wedding of King Mohammed VI. Between 1996 and 2005 he was the Suzuki Coordinator to Montclair State University where he also taught an undergraduate keyboard harmony class. In 1989 he received the New Jersey State Governors Award in Arts Education.
Anthony Antolini has been on the NESI faculty since 1995. He graduated from Bowdoin College and holds graduate degrees in music and Slavic Studies from Stanford University. When he was in high school in New York City his first music mentor was conductor and organist Thomas Dunn. He later studied conducting with Harold Schmidt, Charlene Archibeque, George Guest, Helmuth Rilling and Vladimir Minin. He is a member of the music faculty at Bowdoin College, where he conducts the Bowdoin Chorus and the Rachmaninoff Choir.
Carrie Salisbury is the creator of StringsPop, a unique online teen summer camp and monthly workshops, with a support network and training for innovative string teachers. She is a studio musician and private violin and viola teacher based in Los Angeles. Her students perform regularly as Crescendo Strings, a multi-level violin and viola group. Her advanced teen students form First Inversion, a premiere ensemble known for creating and performing their own arrangements. You can follow her students’ projects on Instagram at @stringspop. Carrie currently serves as President of the Suzuki Music Association of California – Los Angeles Branch. She is the parent to three young Suzuki string students with husband and collaborator, Ben Salisbury.