Fay S. Adams

Fay Swadley Adams is an Associate Professor of Piano Emerita at the University of Tennessee and is director of the Suzuki Piano School of Knoxville. She is a registered Suzuki piano teacher trainer and served on the Suzuki piano review committee. Her awards include: Tennessee Teacher of the Year awarded by the Tennessee Music Teachers Association, Outstanding Teacher Award from the Tennessee Governor’s School, former member of the SAA and MTNA board of directors, YWCA Outstanding Woman in the Arts, Chancellor’s Citation for Service to the University of Tennessee, the first annual Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award for the UT School of Music, the University of Tennessee Volunteer Spirit Award and, most recently, the MTNA National Teacher of the Year.

Judy W. Bossuat-Gallic

Judy W. Bossuat-Gallic has been teaching violin and training teachers for over 45 years. Her contact with Dr. Suzuki began in 1974 and continued throughout the years after her graduation from the Matsumoto Talent Education Institute in 1978. She is a registered Suzuki Method Teacher Trainer for SAA and the European Suzuki Association where she was named an honorary member. B-G has been national secretary of the American String Teachers Association, president of California ASTA, on the board of the National String Project Consortium among other positions.   B-G’s teaching experiences include over 375 International Conferences, Institutes and Workshops all over the world. She currently teaches at Bossuat-Gallic Music in Dallas, does bi-monthly Master Classes at the Fort Worth Suzuki School and has continued her position at California State University, Sacramento where she is the Master Teacher on the String Project.

Maeve Brophy

Maeve Brophy gave her first solo recital at age 9 and made her orchestral debut at 15. She has given solo and collaborative performances in Wells, England, the Amalfi Coast, Kiev, Ukraine, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Aspen, Nashville, Memphis, and Birmingham. She has performed for the Memphis Chamber Music Society and the Artist Ascending Series in Memphis and is a regular performer with the Luna Nova Ensemble. She has performed for the Lindberg Farm Series and Messiah Lutheran Concert Series in Huntsville. She is also the pianist for Nashville’s alt-classical group chatterbird. Maeve has performed as soloist with the Chernygev Symphony in Kiev as well as the Paducah Symphony and the Central Florida Philharmonic. In high school, her family made the trip from Memphis to Huntsville weekly so she could study with Yakov Kasman. She has a BA from the University of Alabama at Birmingham where she studied with Dr. Kasman and a Master of Music in Piano Performance from Texas Christian University where she studied with Jose Feghali. She also studied at the Manhattan School of Music with Marc Silverman and at the New England Conservatory of Music with Russell Sherman. She spent time working as a freelance accompanist in Memphis and played for numerous student recitals at the University of Memphis. She has taught students privately as well as at the Boston College of Adult Education. She is currently working an album and live concert video of Mozart and Franck sonatas she recorded in Memphis with her sister, violinist Linnaea Brophy. Expected release date is May 2017. She is also a Licensed Massage Therapist and Registered Yoga Teacher. Maeve currently teaches secondary piano at Belmont University in Nashville and is an accompanist at Vanderbilt University, where she has performed numerous recitals with students, faculty, and guest artists. She is also the pianist for Kingston Springs United Methodist Church. She lives in Nashville with her 8 month old daughter.

David Dickens

David Graham Dickens, DMA is a originally from Pearl River, La (a small town right outside of New Orleans) where he started music at an early age. He attended Louisiana State University where he received his Bachelor of Music degree. He later went to graduate school at the University of Central Arkansas and the University of Memphis. His principal teachers include; Tina Whitworth, Jason Marsalis, Brett Dietz, Blake Tyson, and Frank Shaffer. David has had successful band programs in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee. He currently resides in Conway, AR.

Patsy Fancher

Department Chair of Communications, Graphic and Fine Arts at Southwest Tennessee Community College
Professor – Graphic Arts Technology

I hold an Associate Degree in Fine Arts/Advertising from Northwest Junior College, a B.F.A. in Advertising/Commercial Art, a B.F.A. in Photography and a M.F.A. in Computer Graphics from Memphis College of Art. I have been in the Graphic Arts field for over 30 years. During my career I have been the Art Director for Satellite Dish Magazine, Artcraft Converters, DCR Graphics, and Sawtelle Printing. I also owned FancherPhillips Graphic Solutions. As well as a Freelance Graphic Designer producing package design for Snap-on-Tools, printed material for Pemko, Memphis Business Products and COGIC. I also produced COGICS’s interactive Convocation Journal and Virtual tours.

I taught for Memphis College of Art for nine years and State Technical Institute for four years as an Adjunct Instructor. I have been a fulltime Instructor at Southwest for 17 years and a Department Chair for 11 of those. I am presently the Department Chair for Communications, Graphic and Fine Arts department.

As Department Chair I provides leadership, management, planning, and advocacy for faculty and programs within the unit, which are Fine Arts, Graphic Arts, Music, Photography, Speech and Theater.

As a Professor in the Graphic Arts Technology program I teach or have taught all classes in the Print Production and Interactive Multimedia concentrations.

Colleen Fitzgerald

Ms. Colleen Fitzgerald is a teacher trainer for the Suzuki Association of the Americas and executive director of the Barcel Suzuki String Academy (BSSA).  She currently teaches private and group violin lessons and Suzuki Early Childhood Education classes at BSSA. Ms. Fitzgerald earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance with Suzuki Pedagogy Emphasis under mentor, Professor Carol Dallinger at the University of Evansville and a Masters of Arts in Teaching degree from Cardinal Stritch University. She has also received supplemental Suzuki teacher training with Kay Collier-McLaughlin, Ed Kreitman, Tom Wermuth, and Alice Joy Lewis and acquired her Early Childhood Education training under Suzuki ECE founders, Dorothy & Sharon Jones. Ms. Fitzgerald started Suzuki violin lessons at age 6 and two years later began studies with Suzuki teacher trainer, Joan Rooney. 

Colleen was awarded the Certificate of Excellence in Studio Teaching from the Civic Music Association of Milwaukee (2006) and earned the Certificate of Achievement 1 from the Suzuki Association of the Americas (2017). She has been featured on local TV and radio programs as well the Beyond the Music Lesson podcast to discuss the Suzuki Method. Colleen travels throughout the United States to serve as a guest clinician at various Suzuki workshops and summer Suzuki institutes. Students of Ms. Fitzgerald have won MSO’s Bach Double Violin Competition, numerous MYSO Concerto Competitions, the UWM Concerto Competition, as well as many college scholarships and received Honorable Mentions is the Young Artist Auditions with the MSO. Besides teaching, Ms. Fitzgerald frequently performs as a violin soloist and is a member of her church’s handbell choir. 

Lori Gilbert

Lori Gilbert is a free-lance musician and violin teacher from Memphis, Tennessee. As a child she was a Suzuki student who then became a Suzuki teacher, and is now a Suzuki mom to her three children. She completed long-term Suzuki training with Kimberly Meier-Simms and Libby Armour, and short-term training with Nancy Jackson and Ed Kreitman. She plays with the Delta Symphony as well as other local ensembles. Lori began her teaching career at age 16 and has maintained a violin studio for 18 years. After completing a Master’s degree in Violin Performance under the tutelage of Dr. Soh-Hyun Altino, she has continued her violin studies with Yoko Takebe and Michael Gilbert, formerly of the New York Philharmonic, and Joy Brown Wiener, Concertmaster Emeritus of the Memphis Symphony. Lori enjoys playing chamber music at events in the city with her violinist husband Daniel.

Lora Gubanov

A native of Bulgaria, Lora Gubanov has given many successful performances in the United States and Europe.  Ms. Gubanov received the Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance at the University of Memphis in 2016, with a full teaching assistantship. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor of Music at LeMoyne-Owen College and the founder of Memphis Music Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. As an enthusiastic educator and performer, Lora has received awards in numerous competitions, including the Steinway Young Artist MTNA Piano Competition in 2006 and the University of Tennessee Concerto Competition in 2007. She has also been a finalist in the University of Memphis Soloist Competition in 2013 and the Wideman International Piano Competition in 2014. Her former teachers include David Northington and Cathal Breslin.  Most recently, Ms. Gubanov was nominated to receive a 2017 Steinway Top Teacher Award. In the summer of 2018, she served on the faculty of East/West International Piano Festival in Shenzhen, China, where she gave masterclasses and taught private and chamber music lessons. She is a U.S. nationally certified teacher of music and a member of the Music Teachers National Association, National Guild of Piano Teachers, and Suzuki Association of the Americas.

Ayanna Hampton

Ayanna Hampton is a PhD candidate in Music Education at the University of Memphis, where she serves as a Graduate Teaching Assistant and researches applications of Orff Schulwerk pedagogy in urban school settings. Ayanna received her Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans, Louisiana, and her Masters in Music Education with a concentration in Orff Schulwerk from the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis

Ayanna is a former Orff Schulwerk Specialist with Shelby County Schools, She recently completed Mayor Jim Strickland’s Urban Fellows Program and the Orpheum Theatre Teaching Artist Training Program, and has facilitated acting and storytelling activities for the Orpheum’s community and education programs.

Ayanna is an active member of the American Orff Schulwerk Association, the National Association of Music Education, and Sigma Alpha Iota Fraternity. When she is not learning new music education practices or community organizing, Ayanna enjoys performing as a vocalist, soaking in Memphis’ beautiful riverfront views, and attending live music events.

Abbey Hansen

Cellist, artist-teacher and SAA registered Cello Teacher Trainer, Abbey Hansen, maintains an active teaching and performing schedule in the Cleveland area. Ms. Hansen serves as full-time faculty at the at the Sato Center for Suzuki Studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music. In addition to her work with Suzuki students, she conducts a two-year graduate Suzuki teacher-training program, part of a unique dual Master’s degree in Cello Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy. Prior to her appointment at CIM, Ms. Hansen served on faculty at the Music Institute of Chicago, Rockford College Music Academy, Community School of the Arts at Northern Illinois University and Music Academy at Lawrence University.

An in-demand guest clinician, Ms. Hansen has taught and lectured at workshops and institutes in Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Colorado and Haiti. Ms. Hansen has also performed in several chamber music ensembles in the Chicagoland area and has been featured on faculty and alumni recitals throughout the Midwest. In 2006, she had the privilege of performing in a friendship concert at the Suzuki Talent Education Institute in Matsumoto, Japan. In 2016 Ms. Hansen became the youngest ever registered Suzuki Cello Teacher Trainer. She is also the recipient of the Suzuki Association of the Americas’ Level 1 Certificate of Achievement for excellence in Suzuki education.

Ms. Hansen’s students have served as principal players in Chicago area youth orchestras, Interlochen and Blue Lake summer camps, and were selected to join the Suzuki Youth Orchestra of the Americas. Hansen Studio cellists have placed in Chicagoland competitions including Granquist, Protege Philharmonic, Rockford Women’s Club and Midwest Young Artists and have continued their cello studies at top universities such as Amhurst, Drake, Brown and University of Illinois.

Ms. Hansen grew up in Iowa City, IA and began her cello studies in the public school system. She graduated from Lawrence University earning a Bachelors of Music in cello performance. She continued her education as a Dutton Low Strings Fellow at Northern Illinois University, earning both a Masters of Music (Cello Performance and Pedagogy) and a Performers Certificate. Ms. Hansen has registered Suzuki training with Gilda Barston, Pam Devenport, Nancy Hair, Carol Tarr and Jean Dexter. Her primary cello teachers include Betsy Hawtrey, Janet Anthony and Marc Johnson. Ms. Hansen lives in Cleveland Heights, OH with her husband, two Suzuki cellist children, and two Havanese dogs.

Annette Lee

Annette Lee has been a Suzuki teacher since 1988. She received her BM in piano performance from Wheaton Conservatory and her MM in piano performance from the University of Michigan, where she was a fellowship student under Louis Nagle and Martin Katz. Her Suzuki training has been with Yasuko Joichi, Doris Koppelman, Jane Kutscher Reed, Rick Mooney, Fay Adams and Mary Craig Powell. In 2015, she became a registered Teacher Trainer in Piano.

Ms. Lee has taught at the Music Institute of Chicago and DePaul University and is currently on faculty at the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis. At MacPhail, she is a Suzuki teacher, is a staff accompanist for the Suzuki Department and hosts Teacher Training for Piano. She is a frequent clinician at Suzuki Institutes, having taught in Stevens Point, WI, Blue Lake Institute, MI, Mt. Royal Academy, Calgary, Suzuki Piano Program in Saskatoon, the Wheaton Preparatory Department, IL, the Preucil School in IA, the Chicago Suzuki Institute and at the Colorado Suzuki Institute.

Mary Ann Mears

Mary Ann Mears is originally from the Memphis, TN area. She studied violin with William Starr at the University of Tennessee and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in Suzuki String Techniques. She studied with Dr. Shinichi Suzuki in Matsumoto during the summers of 1976, 1978, 1982 and 1983. She taught in the Denver, Colorado area from 1980 until 2005. While there, she was a founding member of the Suzuki Association of Colorado. Other training includes certification as a Montessori Infant and Toddler directress. She currently maintains a private violin studio in Germantown, TN.

Ali Michael

Ali Michael has grown up immersed in the Suzuki method through violin, flute and piano. She now works with children in art studies through various outlets including homeschool classes and an art studio in Hernando, MS.

Linzie Mullins

Linzie currently serves as the State General Music Chair of the Tennessee Music Education Association, past treasurer of the Memphis Chapter of the American Orff Schulwerk Association, and past-president of WTGMEA. She has presented a number of workshops including the First Timers Workshop at the AOSA National Conference in Denver Colorado, Memphis Orff Levels Evening Workshop, New Teacher Boot-Camps for Shelby County Schools, and District Learning Days for Shelby County Schools. She is also a past mentor and curriculum writer for the Shelby County Schools District. Linzie earned her undergraduate degree in K-12 Music Education from the University of Tennessee at Martin, Masters degree in Instruction and Curriculum Leadership as well as her English as a Foreign Language Certificate from The University of Memphis, and her Administrator’s Certification from Christian Brothers University. She also attained Orff Levels I, II, III, and Masterclass through the University of Memphis.

Jon Nash

Mr. Jonathan Nash is a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Memphis. He is pursuing his D.M.A. in Wind Conducting. Mr. Nash holds a masters degree in music education as well as a bachelor of music in education degree from Murray State University. He served as director of the Murray State University Jazz band as well one of the University’s trumpet ensembles. Under his direction, the ensemble was selected to perform in the National Trumpet Competition. Prior to his graduate studies, Mr. Nash was a high school band director in Kentucky where his groups consistently received distinguished rating both in concert band and marching band. He has been a member of Music City Drum and Bugle Corps brass staff, and is an active adjudicator, show designer, and clinician for both marching bands and concert bands.

Elizabeth O’Connell

Elizabeth O’Connell received her training at the Princeton Ballet School and in summer study at North Carolina School of the Arts and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. She has also studied with Risa Gary Kaplowitz, Elisabeth Carroll, and in NYC with Nancy Bielski. Ms. O’Connell has performed in New York City and the NY metropolitan area with Classics Dance Theater, Metropolitan Repertory Ballet, Princeton Ballet II, and as a guest artist.  She has also been a company member of The Metropolitan Ballet of Minneapolis and Continental Ballet (Bloomington).  Ms. O’Connell has danced in the Nutcracker, La Traviata, A Christmas Carol, Paquita, Coppelia, Swan Lake and many other repertory works. She has performed the title roles in Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.  Ms. O’Connell has taught at several schools in New York, New Jersey, and Minnesota where joined the staff of Betty Jo’s Dance Center in 2006 and served as the school’s artistic director. In addition to ballet instruction, she has studied and been certified in Pilates. Ms. O’Connell currently teaches ballet and fitness at several dance schools in the Memphis area.

Jane Kutscher Reed

Jane Kutscher Reed is an internationally recognized Suzuki Piano Teacher Trainer, Suzuki Piano Educator, Parent and Teacher Coach and Motivational Speaker from Greenville, SC. After earning a degree in Piano Performance from the University of Findlay, she found her calling in Suzuki Pedagogy. As she teaches throughout the US and other countries, she dedicates herself to promoting finer education for students, teachers and parents through deeper thinking, validated learning skills and building meaningful relationships between the child, parent and teacher.

Mrs. Reed is also an Independent Facilitator for Parenting the Love and Logic Way, a Certified Elite Life Coach, and Motivational Speaker. She premiered her course for educators, Teaching with Purpose, at Lenoir-Rhyne University in 2013.

She and her husband founded Solutionary Insights, an educational business, which is dedicated to Nurturing Thinking Minds. The unique signature of Solutionary Insights is the intertwining of the respect for the value of individuals, the belief that all are capable of excellence, and the resolve that fine and purposeful teaching and parenting develops outstanding abilities. Watch for their upcoming book, “Nurturing Thinking Minds: The Making of Thought Leaders.”™

Visit their website: www.solutionaryinsights.com

Kristy Robinson

Kristy Robinson began violin at the age of 6 at the Bellevue SPA. Kristy continued violin study with Joy Brown Wiener in middle and high school, and studied with Timothy Shiu and Ara Sarkissian in college. In December of 2013, she graduated summa cum laude from the University of Memphis with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music, violin performance. Kristy studied viola with Lenny Schranze at the UofM for three years. In January of 2012, Kristy sat as principal violist in a concert with the Annie Moses Band at Carnegie Hall, and as assistant principal violist in the Nashville Praise Symphony in 2013. Kristy has taught violin for 10 years and has Suzuki training in Books 1-3 with Libby Armour. She also taught fiddling, chamber, and private lessons for 6 years at the Fine Arts Summer Academy with the Annie Moses Band which included fiddling on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry twice as well as at The Bluegrass Underground. Kristy enjoys fiddling and improvising in several settings from folk music to church music and performs often in local community orchestras. Kristy is married to Daniel Robinson, a business analyst, and has one daughter, Elizabeth, who was born in May of 2018.

Amanda Schubert

Amanda Schubert studied Suzuki violin with her father, Lacy McLarry, from age three through college, receiving a Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance from Oklahoma City University. She received a Master of Music degree in violin performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she studied with Norman Paulu and was coached extensively by the Pro Arte String Quartet. Mrs. Schubert holds a Teaching Certificate from the Talent Education Research Institute in Matsumoto, Japan, where she studied with Shinichi Suzuki. She is also registered through the SAA in Suzuki violin books one through ten, and is a Teacher Trainer. From 1992 to 2009, Mrs. Schubert was a member of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra. She served on the violin faculty of the Brevard Music Festival in North Carolina from 1996 to 2011. Currently she performs with Waco Symphony and Temple Symphony, plays viola in the Temple Symphony String Quartet, free lances, and is the owner and contractor of Waco Strings. She has served on the violin faculty of the Central Texas String Academy since 2009. She resides in Waco, Texas with her husband, Mark Schubert (a trumpet player), and their two daughters, both of whom are violin students of their mother.

Mary Halverson Waldo

Mary Halverson Waldo received a BA in Music from the College of St Scholastica, and a Master of Music from the New England Conservatory, in Performance of Early Music (Recorder and Traverso). A member of Waldo Baroque and Friends, she has made guest appearances with North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral Choirs (Columbia, SC), Broad River Renaissance Band, the Bach Society of Minnesota, Chatham Baroque, Pittsburgh Opera, Fayerwether Friends, and Piccolo Spoleto, Charleston.

Ms. Waldo was a faculty member at MacPhail Center for Music (Minneapolis), and the Saint Paul Conservatory (MN), where she introduced recorder and flute into the Suzuki programs. She is a regular faculty member at music institutes and festivals throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, and England. Her teenage recorder students have won honors and awards in competitions sponsored by Presidential Scholars in the Arts, and Piffaro! She is a registered Recorder Teacher Trainer for the Suzuki Association of the Americas, and the European Suzuki Association.

Formerly a Music Director for the Twin Cities Recorder Guild (the MN chapter of the American Recorder Society), Ms. Waldo has been a writer for the American Recorder magazine and the American Suzuki Journal, and has served on the boards of the American Recorder Society (ARS) and the American Recorder Teachers’ Association.

Pamela Wilensky

Pamela Wilensky has been a String Specialist for Memphis City/Shelby County Schools for 20 years, teaching at the elementary, middle and high school levels. She is the Fine Arts Department Chair and Director of Orchestras at Central High School in Memphis, TN. She is a graduate of Appalachian State University with a Bachelor of Music Education. She has had extensive Suzuki Teacher Training and taught in the University of Memphis Suzuki Program for 20 years. She is a co-director of Memphis Music Camp as well as Shelby County Schools’ Artsfest. She is an active performer in Memphis and with the Germantown and Delta Symphony Orchestras, and was a member of the Jackson Symphony for 20 years. Pamela is an active member of the West TN School Band and Orchestra Association, the American String Teachers Association, and the Suzuki Association of the Americas, and has been the State Orchestra Chair for TNMEA. She has been a guest conductor for the Memphis City Schools All-City String Festival, Jackson Symphony Music Camp, the Quad State String Festival at Murray State University, the Austin-Peay University honor Orchestra and the Alabama Honor Strings Festival. She has been on the faculty of the Memphis Suzuki Institute for many years, teaching orchestra and technique classes.