Camille Witos

Suzuki Piano and Chamber Music Faculty
Instruments: 
Piano
Program Area: 
Private Instruction
Suzuki Education
Chamber Music
With Music Institute of Chicago since: 
2014
Education: 

Master of Music in Piano Performance, De Paul University

Significant teachers and mentors: 

Mary Sauer, György Sebók, Philip Morehead, Ann Schein

Teaching philosophy and areas of expertise: 

Teaching Suzuki piano gives me the opportunity to develop my students' talent beginning at a very early age. I teach each student as an individual. To help them reach their greatest potential, I am committed to figuring out how they learn most effectively, developing their technique, tapping into their creativity, and helping them express themselves through music.

Awards and achievements: 

Founder and Artistic Director of the Boulanger Chamber Ensemble whose lecture/recital, Les Femmes de Paris Lili & Nadia Boulanger: Their Lives in Music, was one of only 35 proposals accepted for the MTNA 2014 National Conference in Chicago. The Boulanger Chamber Ensemble (piano, violin, cello, and soprano) has also performed for the Fourth Presbyterian Church Noon Time Concert Series, ISMTA conference, Northwest Suburban MTA, North Shore MTA, and CAMTA. 

Awarded the CAMTA Professional Development Grant (2008) and the Steinway Teacher Grant (2008).

Professional affiliations & activities: 

Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), Illinois State Music Teachers Association (ISMTA), Chicago Area Music Teachers Association (CAMTA), and Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA).

 

Co-Chair of the CAMTA Roberta Savler Piano Competition. Adjudicator for numerous competitions and festivals. Qualified teacher for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) theory program. Member of the planning committee with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Emmanuel Ax for the Keys to the City Youth Piano Showcase (2012). Author of articles on piano pedagogy for Keyboard Companion (now Clavier Companion).

Interests outside of music: 

LOVE dogs...I was the orginal founding member of the first official dog beach in Chicago. Practice yoga and Feldenkrais. Enjoy entertaining guests with great food, etc.

Favorite quote: 

"He who half-performs when he should be practicing, is apt to find himself forced to half-practice when he should be performing." A. R. Parsons

Favorite practice tip: 

Have a focus in your practice of what you want to change and don't just "play" through the piece.

Favorite composer or piece to play: 

So many--- Beethoven late String Quartets, J.S. Bach Goldberg Variations, Rachmaninoff Songs, and music of Lili Boulanger.

Favorite musical moment: 

Dame Myra Hess concert broadcast live on WFMT with clarinetist, Jonathon Cohler (he flew in from Boston the day before the concert and that was our rehearsal)!

 

Teaching for the London Suzuki Group in London, England.