2023 Suzuki Workshops - Clinicians' Bios | Music Institute of Chicago

Arranged by instrument/workshop in alphabetical order and then by clinician name in alphabetical order

CELLO WORKSHOP

Nancy Hair (cello) lives in the Boston area where she keeps herself busy as a teacher, and a performer as well as having a family. Nancy is on the faculty of the New England Conservatory Preparatory Division, the Suzuki School of Newton, and has a home studio. In addition, she can be heard frequently playing in many of Boston’s orchestras as well as solo and chamber music. Nancy has been a teacher trainer since 1988 and enjoys traveling and teaching at institutes, workshops, conferences, and festivals. She attended Indiana University, Hartt School of Music, and Ithaca Talent Education. Her teachers include Janos Starker, Raya Garbousova, George Neikrug, and Timothy Eddy.

Aaron Kaplan (cello) is the Assistant Director of Orchestras with the Glenbrook Symphony Orchestra. An alum of Glenbrook North, Mr. Kaplan received his Master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under the tutelage of Donald Schleicher. He received his Bachelor's degrees from University of Illinois as a high honors graduate in cello performance and music education where he studied with Brandon Vamos of the Pacifica Quartet. Mr. Kaplan recently completed a year as the interim conductor for the Quad City Youth Symphony Orchestras in the Quad Cities and was previously the music director/conductor for the Sangamon Valley Youth Symphony in Springfield, Illinois.

As an active conductor of musical theatre, Mr. Kaplan has conducted over 30 musicals including Les Miserables, West Side Story, The Producers and the premiere amateur production of Memphis at the Illinois All-State High School Theatre Festival. Mr. Kaplan has served as a guest cello and conductor clinician at the Chicago Suzuki Institute, Allerton Chamber Music Symposium and created the Cello Camp at Illinois Summer Youth Music. An active cellist, Mr. Kaplan also performs with the Heartland Festival Orchestra and Sinfonia da Camera.

Alex Revoal (cello) An alumnus of the Denver School of the Arts, Alex holds a Bachelor of Music, from Lawrence University. He earned a Master of Music degree in cello performance and pedagogy, and a Performance Certificate from Northern Illinois University, where he studied with Marc Johnson of the Grammy-nominated Vermeer Quartet. While at NIU he played in the Alla Corda Quartet, a resident graduate ensemble, and taught an undergraduate music appreciation course.

In the fall of 2002, he studied at the Institute for the International Education of Students in Vienna, Austria. His teachers have included Janet Anthony, Carol Tarr, Christine Vitoux-Erben, Elisabeth Anderson, and Stephen Harrison. He has played in masterclasses for cellists Anthony Arnone, Lynn Harrell and Brandon Vamos, and for pianists Paula Fan and Gil Kalish, and has received chamber music coachings with members of the Vermeer, Fine Arts, Pacifica, Brentano, Cavani and Ives Quartets.

Fully committed to the continuous process of pedagogical development, he has so far participated in Suzuki training for Every Child Can and books 1 through 10 at the Chicago Suzuki Institute, where his trainers included Nancy Hair and Jean Dexter, and has completed a Suzuki Cello Practicum with Gilda Barston. He has had additional Suzuki training from Carey Beth Hockett, Sally Gross, Katherine Wood, Ed Kreitman and Pamela Devenport. In the summer of 2017 he participated in the Group Class Techniques teaching fellowship program with Carey Beth Hockett. From 2008 to 2013 he taught at the Music Institute of Chicago, and since 2006 he has been on the faculty at the Western Springs School of Talent Education/Naperville Suzuki School, where he co-directs the summer chamber camp and the advanced cello ensemble, Cellissimo. In 2015 Alex Revoal was awarded the level 1 Certificate of Achievement by the SAA.

Melissa Solomon (cello) Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Melissa Solomon grew up in a family of professional musicians where she developed an early passion for both performance and teaching. During High School she received a full scholarship to study at Interlochen Arts Academy, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She immigrated to the United States, graduating from the Juilliard School in New York City where she studied cello with Timothy Eddy, and chamber music with Robert Mann, Earl Carlyss, and Jonathan Feldman.

Music has the Power to inspire, heal and connect people. This core belief drives Melissa’s passion for teaching. While studying in New York City, she participated in Juilliard’s Community Fellowship Program, which brings music to diverse audiences throughout the city’s metropolitan areas.

Melissa Solomon Cello Studio quickly developed into a thriving community following graduation from Juilliard and a move to Pasadena, California. She started the cello program at Suzuki Talent Education of Pasadena (STEP), as well as founded and directed Project C.E.L.L.O.—-a uniquely inspiring course in performance education.

Serving as faculty for nationwide programs is crucial to vitality in a studio. Melissa values the professional development and perspective she gains from her consistent participation in quality programs around the world. She has been faculty for for Alaska Cello Intensive, National Cello Institute Winter workshop in Pomona, the Lone Star Young Artists Program in Dallas, Colorado Suzuki Institute, DFW WOW Suzuki Institute, Intermountain Suzuki String Institute, the Suzuki Strings by the Bay summer institute in Berkeley and Nevada School of the Arts Summer Strings Camp. She regularly gives master classes at workshops throughout her home state of Texas.

A fully trained and registered Suzuki teacher, Melissa’s coursework was mentored by Suzuki Teacher-trainers Pamela Devenport, Nancy Hair, Sally Gross, Carol Tarr, Jean Dexter, and Rick Mooney. Melissa has been a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas since 2005.
In addition to teaching, Melissa has a love of playing. She has appeared throughout the United States, Europe and South Africa, including New York, London, Florence, Edinburgh, Johannesburg and Cape Town. She has appeared at music festivals, among them the Accademia Chigiana (Italy), the Edinburgh International Festival (Scotland), the Bucknell Quartet Program (Pennsylvania) and the Franschoek Chamber Music Festival (South Africa). Highlights included a solo recital at Lincoln Center’s Paul Hall (NY), performances at the Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi (Italy) and leading the Juilliard Symphony celli at Carnegie Hall (NY) under the baton of James de Priest.

Melissa lives in Austin, Texas where she teaches private lessons, directs her South Austin Cello Choir and plays chamber music. When she is not teaching or playing the cello, she loves to write, draw and ride bikes with her two delightful children ages 8 and 6, and their rambunctious black lab, and spend precious time with family and friends discussing all sorts of ideas, playing games and laughing together.

FLUTE WORKSHOP

Taylor Morris (Sunday Enrichment) Hailed by a class of 2nd graders as “wreely nice and kind” and “the coolest man on erth,” Arizona native Taylor Morris enjoys blurring the line between violin and fiddle. Strongly believing we can learn more about the world through collaboration with others, he actively pursues musical projects in different genres. Currently, he is part of Tricia & Taylor, a genre-bending violin/fiddle duo with concert violinist Tricia Park, and a member of The Sound Accord, a string sextet that creates vibrant arrangements of folk music.

After studying classical violin at Arizona State University with Dr. Katie McLin, he spent four years touring with Barrage, a world-music violin troupe based out of Canada. His travels, both with Barrage and personally, have led to performances in 48 states and 13 countries with musicians from a multitude of backgrounds, including Mike Block, Hanneke Cassel, Brittany Haas, Natalie Haas, Jeremy Kittel, Lauren Rioux, and the Tetra String Quartet.

Offstage, Taylor obtained a master's in education from Harvard University and is a passionate advocate for arts education. Since 2000, Taylor's teaching has taken him into classrooms around the country, from kindergartens to colleges, including as a continuing Guest Lecturer at Arizona State University. He frequently works with educators in professional development settings and has presented at the national conferences for the American String Teachers Association (ASTA), National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and at The Midwest Clinic. Cherishing his own childhood experiences at summer music camps, Taylor frequently teaches at camps around the country and directs his own camp for young musicians in the Phoenix area called StringPlay.

During the school year, he is a committed private teacher with a dynamic studio of violinists and fiddlers. Additionally, Taylor is a founding co-director of the Gilbert Town Fiddlers (GTF), an extracurricular high school fiddle group that collaborates to create its own arrangements for performances. GTF students even designed and presented their own session on student-led arranging at the 2019 ASTA National Conference! Through his teaching, Taylor is ultimately on a mission to help students and educators alike experience the thrill of taking musical ownership and finding their own meaningful ways to make music.

Bonny Scheer (Saturday Flute Enrichment: Handbells) B.A. in Music Education, Indiana University M.A. in Music Education, VanderCook College of Music
Bonny earned a Master’s Degree in Music Education and studied at Indiana University and Vander Cook College of Music. She also specializes in the Orff-Schulwerk method of music education and teaches private violin and viola lessons.

Wendy Stern (flute) is a registered teacher trainer and an adjunct professor of flute at Montclair State University. She received her Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School and started her training in Suzuki pedagogy in 1996 with Rebecca Paluzzi. Since then, she has worked with most of the other North American teacher trainers and studied with Suzuki Flute School founder Toshi Takahashi in Matsumoto, Japan.

Wendy is an active clinician and has taught at numerous institutes and workshops throughout Canada, the United States and in England, Australia, and New Zealand. She has also performed and given workshops at National Flute Association Conventions in New York, New Mexico, North Carolina, Georgia, California, Illinois , Washington, DC., and Minnesota. An avid proponent of newly composed chamber music, she has recently premiered and recorded works by Lei Liang and John Deak with The Cicada Chamber Ensemble (with members of the New York Philharmonic) and Cynthia Folio with Ensemble Triolet. As a long-time member of the dynamic and innovative chamber ensemble Flute Force, Wendy has premiered and recorded chamber music works for Joseph Schwantner, Robert Dick, Elizabeth Brown, Katherine Hoover, and Amanda Harberg. She is an in-demand freelance musician, playing regularly with the most prestigious ensembles in the New York/ New Jersey area and has recorded CDs for CRI, VAl, lnnova, MPR, and Windham Hill.

GUITAR WORKSHOP

Kevin Brown (guitar) has over fifteen years of teaching experience and has taught students ranging from young children to adults. He teaches both Suzuki and traditional methods and has experience in a wide variety of guitar styles including classical guitar, jazz guitar, pop/rock guitar, guitar for contemporary church music, and more. Kevin is an active performer. He has presented solo classical guitar recitals. As a jazz guitarist, he has performed at some of Chicago's finest venues including the Green Mill, the Jazz Showcase and the Chicago Jazz Festival. He has also performed with jazz icons such as Benny Golson, Phil Woods, and Jeff Hamilton. Additionally he provides music for private events including weddings, banquets and parties. Kevin Brown resides in West Chicago, IL with his wife and three children.

Joseph Spoelstra (guitar) has been a member of the Music Institute’s guitar faculty since August 2019, instructing students in classical guitar and in the Suzuki program. He has a bachelor of music degree in guitar performance from the University of Minnesota and a master of music degree in classical guitar performance from the University of California’s Thornton School of Music. He received Chamber Music America’s Classical Commissioning Grant in 2020 and has had other commissions from CMA during the past 10 years. His Suzuki training includes the American Suzuki Institute, as well as institutes in Colorado, Los Angeles, and Ann Arbor. He served on the board of the Suzuki Association of California and as a past president of its Los Angeles chapter, and he has presented at the Suzuki Association of the Americas conference and been on faculty for various Suzuki events. Since 2016, he has been a performing artist for Minnesota Public Radio’s Class Notes educational programming.

PIANO WORKSHOP

Aaron Kaplan (Enrichment) is the Assistant Director of Orchestras with the Glenbrook Symphony Orchestra. An alum of Glenbrook North, Mr. Kaplan received his Master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under the tutelage of Donald Schleicher. He received his Bachelor's degrees from University of Illinois as a high honors graduate in cello performance and music education where he studied with Brandon Vamos of the Pacifica Quartet. Mr. Kaplan recently completed a year as the interim conductor for the Quad City Youth Symphony Orchestras in the Quad Cities and was previously the music director/conductor for the Sangamon Valley Youth Symphony in Springfield, Illinois.

As an active conductor of musical theatre, Mr. Kaplan has conducted over 30 musicals including Les Miserables, West Side Story, The Producers and the premiere amateur production of Memphis at the Illinois All-State High School Theatre Festival. Mr. Kaplan has served as a guest cello and conductor clinician at the Chicago Suzuki Institute, Allerton Chamber Music Symposium and created the Cello Camp at Illinois Summer Youth Music. An active cellist, Mr. Kaplan also performs with the Heartland Festival Orchestra and Sinfonia da Camera.

Marina Obukovsky (piano) lives and works in New York City where she is a sought- after piano teacher, performer and clinician. According to the American Suzuki Journal, “Marina is a true musician and passionate about music, with the ear of a superhuman, able to distinguish the most nuances of nuances.” Ms. Obukovsky currently holds positions at the School for Strings, where she is a Chair of Piano Department and Teacher Trainer, directing long- term Teacher Training Piano Seminar, as well as Faculty at the Mannes College of Music Preparatory Division. As a dedicated and inspiring teacher, Ms. Obukovsky maintains a full studio of pianists, ranging from beginner to pre- college level. Her students frequently participate in master classes with renowned pianists and have won of many of New York’s prestigious competitions, performing at venues such as Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, and Symphony Space. Many of her students continue their training at conservatories and major in music in college.In demand as a clinician and teacher, Ms. Obukovsky has given numerous workshops and masterclasses in New York, Washington DC, Maine, Vermont, Texas, and Bermuda. At the 15th Biennial Suzuki Conference ( May 2012) she was invited to give a master class on new piano repertoire in the revised Suzuki piano books. During the past five years, she has taught at the InterHarmony International Festival in Germany and Italy, and at the ” Accademia di Musica Lorenzo Perosi” in Biella, Italy. A longtime faculty member at the Hartt Suzuki Institute in Connecticut, she additionally joined the faculty of the Berkshire Summer Music Camp in Massachusetts in 2014. Ms. Obukovsky received her Master of Music degree (cum laude) from Kharkov Conservatory, Ukraine. She studied piano with Professor Tatyana Verkina, a former student of Neuhaus. She also participated in numerous masterclasses and workshops at the renowned Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in Moscow. As a student, she won several competitions and performed with Kharkov Philharmonic Orchetsra. An accomplished pianist, she has performed solo and chamber recitals throughout Ukraine and Russia and has served as an accompanist for the National Opera Competitions in Moscow, Odessa, Lviv, and Kiev. She was a former faculty of the Kharkov Conservatory( currently Kharkov National University of Arts). Ms. Obukovsky completed her Suzuki training at The School for Strings with Sheila Keats, and some supplementary pedagogy courses with Mary Craig Powell. An avid chamber musician, Ms. Obukovsky frequently collaborates with fellow musicians in cello- piano duos, as well as in 4-8 hands piano ensembles. Ms. Obukovsky is currently a member of the Suzuki Association of Americas, the Music Teachers National Association, and the Associated Music Teachers League.

Fred Simon (Piano Enrichment) has been a member of the Music Institute’s Jazz Studies and piano faculty since November 2010. He earned a bachelor of music composition degree, with a minor concentration in piano and jazz studies, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has recorded and/or performed with Ralph Towner, Paul McCandless, Larry Coryell, Lyle Mays, Iain Matthews, Jerry Goodman, Megon McDonough, Fareed Haque, Bonnie Herman, Kurt Elling, Tributosaurus, The Stan Kenton Orchestra, and many others. He also teaches at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College for the Performing Arts and the Merit School of Music.

VIOLA WORKSHOP

Meg Lanfear (violin, viola) is a Suzuki Talent Education specialist and is the founder and Director of the Oak Park String Academy, a Suzuki violin and cello program located in Oak Park, IL. Founded in 2005, OPSA offers expert instruction in violin and cello, along with a full array of musical experiences designed to provide an extraordinary musical education for children ages 3 – 18, preparing students for a lifetime of music making at the highest level, regardless of professional aspirations.

Meg began her musical studies on piano at the age of 3 and then continued on to Suzuki violin lessons at the age of 7. The daughter of a Montessori school director, she comes from a strong background in education. Meg went on to complete her Masters in Violin Performance as well as Suzuki Pedagogy at theCleveland Institute of Music—one of the nations top conservatories. While at CIM, Meg taught at the Fairmount Fine Arts Center as well as the Cleveland Music School Settlement. Meg lived in Matsumoto, Japan for two months and studied at the Suzuki Talent Institute with Koji Toyota and performed in several concerts. Several other institutions were of significance in Meg’s studies including the Western Springs School of Talent Education with Ed Kreitman (where she was on faculty for 9 years), the String Academy at Indiana University with Mimi Zweig and the Suzuki Talent Education Program at Augsberg College in Minnesota with Nancy Lokken.

Meg has studied pedagogy and Suzuki philosophy with some of the most illustrious Suzuki Teacher Trainers in the world, including: Linda Case, Carol Dallinger, Teri Einfeldt and Tom Wermuth. She has been profoundly influenced and inspired by her principal mentors Nancy Lokken and Almita Vamos. Meg has also been a past participant in the Juilliard Symposium in New York City—a 3 day conference with some of the most skilled pedagogues in the world, including Paul Kantor, Ida Kavafian, and David Kim.

Her students have consistently won high recognition in many solo competitions and contests, and are often selected to participate in prestigious performing groups including various All-Region Orchestras, all levels of the Chicago Youth Symphony and the Illinois Music Education Association’s All-State Orchestra. Her students have performed as soloists with orchestra, and have participated and won distinction in area competitions such as the DePaul Young Artists Concerto Competition and the OPRF Symphony Orchestra’s annual Concerto Competition.

In addition to having become extraordinary individuals in many diverse fields, her students have been accepted to prestigious universities and music schools such as the New England Conservatory, Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.

Meg has won many awards for her scholarship, musicianship, and abilities as both a performer and as a teacher. In 2010, Meg became one of nine teachers who were the very first teachers in the country to earn the Certificate of Achievement from the Suzuki Association of the Americas, an award given to teachers that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to lifelong learning and excellence in their teaching. As a professional performing musician, Meg has performed around the globe as soloist or orchestral member in some of the world’s most famous halls including, Chicago’s Symphony Hall, Cleveland’s Severance Hall, The Hollywood Bowl and Boston’s Tanglewood. She has also performed with some of the world’s most prestigious musicians including Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Edgar Meyer, Mark O’Connor, Leonard Slatkin, Daniel Barenboim, JoAnne Falletta, Diana Krall, and Herbie Hancock.

Meg has held principal or section positions with ensembles such as the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, the Illinois Philharmonic, Canton and Akron Symphonies and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Meg performs regularly with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, which most recently welcomed former Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, Andrew Grams as Music Director. This summer, Ms. Lanfear will be on the faculty of the Colorado Suzuki Institute in Beaver Creek and the PhoenixPhest in Ann Arbor, MI with Gabriel Bolkosky. Meg lives in Oak Park, IL with her husband, Randy, and her two young boys, James (4) and Henry (1).

Taylor Morris (viola/fiddle, enrichment) Hailed by a class of 2nd graders as “wreely nice and kind” and “the coolest man on erth,” Arizona native Taylor Morris enjoys blurring the line between violin and fiddle. Strongly believing we can learn more about the world through collaboration with others, he actively pursues musical projects in different genres. Currently, he is part of Tricia & Taylor, a genre-bending violin/fiddle duo with concert violinist Tricia Park, and a member of The Sound Accord, a string sextet that creates vibrant arrangements of folk music.

VIOLIN WORKSHOP

Lisa Deakins (violin) is a violinist, fiddler, and registered Suzuki violin teacher living in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. She began playing the violin with the Suzuki method as a young child and is a versatile musician who enjoys performing and teaching across the United States. Lisa has earned the Certificate of Achievement from the Suzuki Association of the Americas, an award given to teachers that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to lifelong learning and excellence in their teaching. Her music has taken her to renowned stages including the Grand Ole Opry, the Crook & Chase television show, and Song of the Mountains.

Meg Lanfear (violin) is a Suzuki Talent Education specialist and is the founder and Director of the Oak Park String Academy, a Suzuki violin and cello program located in Oak Park, IL. Founded in 2005, OPSA offers expert instruction in violin and cello, along with a full array of musical experiences designed to provide an extraordinary musical education for children ages 3 – 18, preparing students for a lifetime of music making at the highest level, regardless of professional aspirations.

Taylor Morris (viola/fiddle) Hailed by a class of 2nd graders as “wreely nice and kind” and “the coolest man on erth,” Arizona native Taylor Morris enjoys blurring the line between violin and fiddle. Strongly believing we can learn more about the world through collaboration with others, he actively pursues musical projects in different genres. Currently, he is part of Tricia & Taylor, a genre-bending violin/fiddle duo with concert violinist Tricia Park, and a member of The Sound Accord, a string sextet that creates vibrant arrangements of folk music.

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2023 Suzuki Workshops - Clinicians' Bios