Meet Your Teacher

My violin journey is deeply rooted in the Portland community. I first began the violin in third grade at Portland Waldorf School, and soon after I began private lessons with Lucia Conrad. Two years later, I joined the Metropolitan Youth Symphony. The following year when I was 12, I participated in the inaugural year of the Portland Summer Ensembles. During this summer I became extremely inspired and decided to become a professional violinist. I began studying with Oregon Symphony violinist Kathryn Gray, joined the Portland Youth Philharmonic, and began intensively practicing. During this period, I spent 3 very formative summers studying with Amy Barlowe and Gerardo Ribeiro at Meadowmount School of Music in New York, and I periodically travelled to Houston to study with Paul Kantor. I also specialized in historical performance, studying early Italian music with David Kerr and taking extended masterclasses with Monica Huggett, Ton Koopman, and the late Jaap Schröder. At age 16, I debuted as soloist with the Oregon Symphony. I won the Young Artists Debut competition and the PYP Soloist Competition, and became concertmaster of PYP. At 18, I was named the Sage Foundation Academy Fellow at the Music Institute of Chicago Academy where I studied for two years with Almita Vamos. In 2017, I moved to Bloomington to study at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music with Distinguished Rudy Professor of Music Mauricio Fuks under a full-tuition Jacobs Scholar Award. I also specialized in music theory, studying tonal harmony with Julian Hook and Leah Frederick, post-tonal harmony with Marianne Kielian-Gilbert, and Schenkerian Analysis with Frank Samarotto. I was named a Founders Scholar for academic excellence, and I graduated with high distinction in 2022 with Bachelor’s degrees in violin performance and international studies. Since graduating, I have continued studying with Professor Fuks and with Professor Vamos at the Chautauqua Festival, and was named the 2024 Kathryn Davis Fellow for Peace at the Middlebury German Language School in Vermont.

My teaching experience began as the Teaching Assistant for my long-time teacher and Oregon Symphony violinist Kathryn Gray. In this role I observed her student’s primary lessons and gave secondary lessons focused on scales, Études, and technical development. Around this time I also gained experience working with string quartets as a chamber music coach for the Community Music Center. I taught beginner violin students at the Jacobs School of Music String Academy through the music pedagogy program at Indiana University, and all levels and ages of students online via zoom as a faculty member of Trala School of Music. Over the past half decade, I have maintained a diverse online studio while performing all across the country. I am excited to be coming full circle and moving back to Portland to establish my own in-person teaching studio!

My process of learning the violin was different from most high-level professional violinists. Many great violinists begin lessons between the ages of 3-5. At this age, learning takes place through rote repetition. By adolescence, they have already reached a high level of playing without necessarily a deep knowledge of the biomechanical underpinnings of the way they play. Consequently, while they might be outstanding violinists, they can lack the explanatory power necessary for effective teaching. Because I did not begin lessons until age 10, and did not begin seriously practicing until age 12, I was old enough to develop a thorough understanding of violin technique through careful study and analysis as I progressed. This is what gives me the ability as a teacher to pinpoint and coherently articulate the precise biomechanical root of a given technical problem.

I have sought out and studied with the best violin professors in the world over the course of more than 15 years. Oregon Symphony violinist Kathryn Gray first taught me how to listen carefully and critically to the sound I was producing. I learned the importance of consistency, persistence, and patience from her. Amy Barlowe taught me how to practice efficiently and effectively, and to be unrelenting in holding myself to the highest standard. Paul Kantor developed my interpretive ability and helped me learn how to connect to my inner artistic voice. Gerardo Ribeiro worked on improving my sound production by tapping into gravity and releasing tension. Almita and Roland Vamos pushed me to learn more repertoire more quickly. Finally, over the course of 6 years Mauricio Fuks re-worked my bow arm from scratch and developed my musicianship to the highest level.

I’ve integrated all the knowledge, expertise, and wisdom of all these great pedagoges in my approach to teaching.