VIOLIN/VIOLA FACULTY
Jillienne Bowers (Violin)
Sarah Coley (Violin) Based in Twin Falls, ID, Sarah Coley has been formally teaching Suzuki violin lessons since 2006. She enjoys working with students of all ages and abilities, and loves seeing students grow in confidence and ability as they journey through Twinkles, Mozart concerti, and beyond.
Sarah began her musical studies as a student herself on piano at age 3, violin at age 9, and viola while in college. She majored in Music Composition at Boise State University. Sarah considers herself a life-long learner and continues to pursue Suzuki Violin Teacher Training through the SAA. She has had the privilege to train with Susan Baer, Mosche Neumann, Dr. Julia Hardie, Barbara Barber and Cathryn S. Lee. She has also completed extensive piano teacher training through the Royal Conservatory of Music.
Sarah has discovered that her love language is really music and teaching, so when she isn’t teaching her students, she spends time with her own children helping them navigate their own musical journeys: Taliya (11)-violin and piano, Elian (9)-cello and piano, Aysai (6)-violin and piano, Soren (3)-cello, and Calila (17-months)-who is eagerly looking forward to playing cello.
Sarah began her musical studies as a student herself on piano at age 3, violin at age 9, and viola while in college. She majored in Music Composition at Boise State University. Sarah considers herself a life-long learner and continues to pursue Suzuki Violin Teacher Training through the SAA. She has had the privilege to train with Susan Baer, Mosche Neumann, Dr. Julia Hardie, Barbara Barber and Cathryn S. Lee. She has also completed extensive piano teacher training through the Royal Conservatory of Music.
Sarah has discovered that her love language is really music and teaching, so when she isn’t teaching her students, she spends time with her own children helping them navigate their own musical journeys: Taliya (11)-violin and piano, Elian (9)-cello and piano, Aysai (6)-violin and piano, Soren (3)-cello, and Calila (17-months)-who is eagerly looking forward to playing cello.
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Connie Hadlock (Director/Violin) of Caldwell, Idaho is officially collecting her well-deserved social security and PERSI benefits! After seeing a group play in the Karcher Mall, she begged her mother for lessons and she started trading milk and eggs for lessons. She began her studies at age 8 with Sensei June Itami in Nampa, ID. Later, she studied with Walter Cerveny of Caldwell, Idaho and Lamar Barrus of Rexburg, Idaho. Her teaching began in 1977 under the founder of the Idaho Suzuki Institute, June Itami. She has served with the faculty at Suzuki Institutes in Utah, California, Montana, Idaho and Louisiana. For the past 30 + years until present, she has served as co-director and director of the Idaho Suzuki Institute. She continues teaching violin/viola lessons in her private studio, performing in various ensembles and playing with the Symphonia at the College of Idaho, when time permits. Connie loves spending time traveling with her husband, running, swimming and traveling in order to keep up with her 6 children and 22 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.
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Helen Higa (Violin) comes from a family with 3 generations of Japanese and Western music teachers, and was born and raised in Honolulu. Her Suzuki Teacher training includes study with Dr. Shinichi Suzuki for two and a half years at the Talent Education Institute in Matsumoto, Japan, where she received her Teacher Certification from him in 1973. She continued her Suzuki teacher training at the University of Tennessee with William Starr, and Louise Behrend at the School for Strings. In NYC, she also worked with Gerald Beal on violin performance skills. Since 2000, Helen has continued research and study with Felicity Lipman, violin professor and Coordinator of Chamber Music for London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama (Junior Department), on her visits to Hawaii. Helen is currently the head of Punahou Music School’s Suzuki Violin Program, and privately teaches over 50 violin students. Other teaching positions have included the University of Tennessee’s Suzuki Program, New York’s School for Strings, and the Diller-Quaille School of Music. Helen has been invited to teach at summer Institutes on the mainland, including Institutes in Utah, Oregon, California, Colorado, Washington and Idaho. Helen serves as the President of Suzuki Talent Education of Hawaii, (www.stehawaii.org), is a member of the Honolulu Symphony, and serves as the part-time musicians’ representative on the Honolulu Symphony Musicians’ Orchestra Committee.
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Debbie Hynes (Director/Violin) began violin lessons at the age of 11. During her high school years, she played in the Boise Philharmonic Orchestra, and continued playing and studying music at Brigham Young University. After graduating with a Bachelor of Music Education, Debbie taught Strings in the Davis County Schools (Utah). Other orchestra experience includes Salt Lake Symphony (Utah), Plymouth Symphony (Michigan) and the Bellevue Philharmonic (Washington) where she led the String Enrichment Program for Schools. Debbie played 1st violin in the Crescendo Quartet (Seattle area) for 10 years. She now resides in Boise where she teaches orchestra at the Jr. High and Elementary levels, and has a private violin/viola studio. Debbie and her husband Gordon have 6 children. One of her loves is playing in a family quartet with her daughters.
SayJay Hines (violin)
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Cathryn S. Lee (Violin) San Francisco based violin teacher Cathryn S. Lee has taught families and teachers around the world since 1976. She is respected for teaching all ages and levels using her detailed and practical “best of both worlds” approach inspired by her studies with Dr. Shinichi Suzuki and her “traditional” studies with the late concert artist Dame Camilla Wicks.
As a teacher trainer, Cathryn has taught and lectured at SAA National conferences, Leadership Summits, Suzuki Method World Conferences, the first International Suzuki Teacher Trainer Conference in 2009 and at the 16th World Conference in Japan. She has given master classes and pedagogy classes in Australia, Canada, England, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand and throughout the United States. Cathryn is a guest lecturer in String Pedagogy at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Cathryn is the author of Bow Exercises, Bow Strokes and the Bow Stroke Excerpts books. In 1977, Cathryn founded the Suzuki Music Studio of San Francisco where she continues to teach students and train teachers. Cathryn has a B.A. in Performance and Composition, M.A. in Performance from San Francisco College for Women and a teaching certificate from the Talent Education Institute in Japan. Her sons, Whit, an actor/violinist in New York City and Corin, a violinist with the ETHEL String Quartet and Founder of Liberated Performer are alumni of ISI. Cathryn is looking forward to bringing her grandson to ISI in the future. Happy 50th Idaho Suzuki Institute. |
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Allen Lieb (Violin) received his MM in Performance from SIU/Edwardsville, studying Suzuki philosophy with John Kendall. He received a Teacher Training Certificate from the Talent Education Research Institute in Japan after several years study with Shinichi Suzuki. A registered Teacher-Trainer with the Suzuki Association of the Americas, Allen has taught at institutes, workshops and conferences across the US, Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia. He is Chair of the SAA Violin Committee and a member of the SAA Heritage Committee. Currently residing in New York City, he is Head of the Violin Department and instructor of the Teacher-Training Seminar at The School for Strings, violin instructor at the Diller-Quaile School of Music, and the Curriculum Coordinator for the Newark Early Strings Program, a Suzuki-based violin program jointly sponsored by the Newark Public Schools and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for which he was recognized with the 2008 Samuel Antek award for Music Education.
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Robert Richardson, Jr. teaches and conducts at Suzuki workshops, Institutes and music festivals on a regular basis throughout North America and beyond. Besides maintaining an extensive violin and viola studio in the Suzuki Talent Education Program at Brandon University’s Eckhardt-Grammatté Conservatory of Music he also conducts string orchestras and coaches chamber music. Mr. Richardson is the director of the Brandon Suzuki Summer Institute which is completing its 11th year and includes a quartet exchange program uniting young musicians from across Canada. Robert performs regularly on both violin and viola in numerous chamber ensembles including the Brandon Chamber Players of which he is a founding member. He has served as an active member on the board and committees for the Manitoba Registered Music Teachers Association and the Festival of the Arts both locally and provincially. Robert enjoys cooking for friends and family, reading, and sipping red wines while attempting Sudoku.
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Nathan Sutter (Violin) has run a Suzuki violin program since 2006. He studied Suzuki pedagogy with Cathryn S. Lee. and is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy and the Oberlin Conservatory.
Mr. Sutter has taught since 2011 at the Northern California Suzuki Institute. Mr. Sutter directed the Sacramento Waldorf School Elementary Strings and High School Orchestra for 10 years. Mr. Sutter moved back to his hometown of Boise, ID in 2018, and now serves as a volunteer of the Idaho Suzuki Association. Mr. Sutter performs with local orchestras including the Boise Philharmonic, and the Boise Serenata Orchestra. In his free time Mr. Sutter likes to mountain bike, snowboard, and go camping with his wife and two children. Nathan is a graduate of a Course of Action called Growing Equitable Music Studios (GEMS), designed to support music teachers in expanding their studio's diversity, access, inclusion, and equity pedagogy. |
PIANO FACULTY
Lori Armstrong (Piano) comes to us from Missoula, Montana where she maintains a private piano studio with 40 students. She has been a teacher of the Suzuki Method for 31 years and is a 1990 graduate of Dr. Suzuki’s school, the Talent Education Institute, in Matsumoto, Japan where she studied for 2 ½ years. Lori brings not only technical training and experience from her study in Japan but insight into the parent’s role as well. Her two children were students of Dr. Haruko Kataoka, co-founder of the Suzuki Piano Method. Lori continues to study with teachers from Japan and travels throughout the U.S. and Canada. She works with teachers and students to maintain the quality and legacy of Dr. Suzuki’s dream of nurturing and developing every child.
Milana Colt (Piano) received her Bachelors of Music in Piano Performance/Pedagogy from Brigham Young University in 1988. In 1990, while living in Utah, she became a certified Kindermusic Instructor and taught music to young children until 1995. Since her move to Boise in 1995, she has taught both private and group piano lessons. She has been a judge for the National Federation of Music Clubs Festivals and other competitions for over 25 years.
Bronwen Godfrey (Director/Piano) is a local piano teacher who grew up studying music through the Suzuki method starting at the tender age of 3. She enjoys teaching and now has her own thriving piano studio. She especially appreciates the freedom it allows so she can spend time with her family, her dogs and working in the yard. Once a month, after a long day teaching in her studio, she opens her home for the ISA board meetings. Her favorite color is teal, she has an unhealthy relationship with jelly beans and owns one of the most loved dogs in town.
Tawna Love (Piano) is a pianist, teacher, composer and arranger. She is a passionate collaborator with a special interest in chamber music and symphonic pianism. Tawna holds a Master of Music degree in piano performance from Boise State University where she studied with Mark Hansen. Previously, she earned her Bachelor of Music in piano performance and pedagogy from the University of Utah where she studied with Douglas Humphreys, Barlow Bradford and Janet Mann, and served as pianist for the New Music Ensemble. She has concertized throughout the western states as a soloist and chamber musician, and in an orchestral role with Meridian Symphony Orchestra, Hymns of Thanksgiving Orchestra, Boise Baroque Orchestra, Treasure Valley Concert Band, Boise State Symphonic Winds, and the Salt Lake Symphony. A Nationally Certified Teacher of Music, Tawna maintains a private teaching studio in Meridian and has taught in an adjunct role at Boise State University. This fall marks her 30th year of teaching. With composition evolving into a key focus, she has written many original pieces and also enjoys arranging. Her compositions and arrangements have been recognized in the worldwide LDS Music Submissions. Tawna has served the music community as a clinician, adjudicator, and in an administrative role on the local and state levels of Music Teachers National Association.
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Rae Kate Shen (Piano) Rae Kate Shen holds a Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance and a Master of Music in Collaborative Arts (formerly Accompanying Performance Major) from the University of Southern California. Ms. Shen teaches piano and coordinates the Suzuki Program at
the University of Redlands, and formerly at The Colburn School. She is also an adjunct faculty member teaching Piano and Ensemble classes as well as individual lessons at Riverside City College. In addition, she is a registered teacher trainer with the Suzuki Association of the Americas and trains teachers in the Suzuki piano method on a year-round basis. Ms. Shen has studied extensively with one of the co-founders of the Suzuki Piano method - Dr. Haruko Kataoka, in the U.S. as well as many times in Matsumoto, Japan. A frequent guest clinician at numerous institutes and workshops throughout the United States, she is also a former adjudicator for the Music Teachers’ Association of California, a founding teacher in the inaugural year of the Carnegie Hall Royal Conservatory Achievement Program, and a concertizing pianist for the Marina Chamber Ensemble. In her free time, Ms. Shen loves to cook and bake, but not while she is on vacation! |
CELLO/BASS FACULTY
Jacob Hynes
Bill Wharton (cello)
Jason Young
HARP FACULTY
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Nicole Brady is an accomplished harpist who enjoys presenting traditional and contemporary repertoire to audiences around the world. She has won many awards for her playing, studied extensively in France and Russia, and holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The Juilliard School. She currently serves as director of the harp program at Brigham Young University where her students have been prize-winners at national and international competitions, gone on to head noteworthy harp programs and serve as principal harpists in major orchestras. Nicole is a master teacher for the Harp Column Academy where her lessons have reached a worldwide audience. She is also a regular clinician and instructor at Institutes and Conferences around the country. She is the mother of four young Suzuki string players, two violinists and two cellists.
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Kimberly Dunford of Star, Idaho, has been teaching for over 25 years. She is trained in the Suzuki Harp Teacher method, including books 1-4, ‘Every Child Can,’ and ‘Principles in Action’. Her students have had several performing opportunities, including the World Harp Congress, American Harp Society Summer Institute, and the harp pedagogy training course for Brigham Young University. Former students have also continued on to Brigham Young University, New England Conservatory, and Carnegie Mellon University, among others.
Kimberly’s own studies began at age nine with ShruDeLi Ownbey. Through college, she continued to study the harp while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business marketing at the University of Utah. She has traveled throughout the United States, studying with a variety of teachers, including Susann McDonald, Carrol McLaughlin, and Linda Wood Rollo. Kimberly currently performs with the Boise Baroque Chamber Orchestra, Meridian Symphony, Canyon County Symphony and Treasure Valley Millennial Choir and Orchestra. She is also the founder of the Treasure Valley Harp Trio and the Treasure Valley Harp Festival, while maintaining a nation-wide studio of her own. Of her five musical daughters, three have been Suzuki Harp trained, with two participating in this year’s Idaho Suzuki Harp Institute. |
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Maria Phippen has been a harpist her entire life...well almost. She began studying harp at age 6 with
ShruDeLi Ownbey and attended a Suzuki Institute every summer studying with Mary Kay Waddington. She comes from a family of harpists with 2 sisters who play and 2 daughters who play. To say the harp has taken over her life would be an understatement. Currently Maria is the harp sales person at Lyon & Healy West and enjoys helping others find the right instrument for their needs. She has maintained a private studio for over 20 years and a freelance career to include playing with the Orchestra at Temple Square, Ballet West, Utah Symphony and Pioneer Theatre Company. Maria studied with Skaila Kanga at the Royal Academy of Music (BMus) and Jana Bouskova at the Prague Conservatory. Maria has been the Director of the Utah Suzuki Harp Institute since 2008 and has loved the challenges each year brings. In her spare time Maria loves traveling to London, Dr Pepper, Marvel movies and most especially spending time with her 5 kids and her AMAZING husband. |
ENRICHMENT FACULTY
Suzanne Lambert (Mariachi) is Co-founder and Director of Mariachi Santa Cecilia in, existence since 1995. The group has toured and recorded extensively seeking to uphold the authentic folk tradition of the earliest Mariachi style of Mexico. She holds a BA in Latin American Studies and MS in Bilingual Education from The University of California at Santa Cruz. She has been an instructor at San Jose State University’s Mariachi Program, as well as at both the San Jose and Salinas International Mariachi Conferences and is currently Chair of the music department and violin instructor at The School of Arts and Culture in San Jose. She and her husband Albert have taught Mariachi Classes for 14 consecutive years at The Northern California Suzuki Institute in Santa Rosa. Suzanne maintains a Suzuki violin studio in Gilroy since 1999 where she lives with her family. She has two grown children who were raised in the Suzuki tradition, Sylvia and Rene, and now a new grandson, Alexander.