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About the Upper Valley Music Center

Established in 1995, the Music Center was the brainchild of three founders: a parent with a background in marketing, a professional string teacher with extensive experience in academic and business administration, and an amateur chamber musician with years of involvement in the nonprofit field.

All three were active members of the presenter group supporting the Carnegie Chamber players. The success of the Carnegies' modest outreach program persuaded the founders of the need for a regional organization to foster musical activities for players and singers of all ages and levels of experience. The Center was established with a three-fold mission: to create instrumental and vocal ensembles where none existed; to serve as a clearinghouse for information about the area's musical organizations and activities; and to provide a place for people to come together to develop their musical knowledge, proficiency, and enjoyment.

UVMC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit incorporated in Vermont with foreign corporation status in New Hampshire.

- Charlotte Brook-Signor (Sunapee, NH)
- Kathy Harvard (Hanover, NH)
- Louis Cornell (Norwich, VT)
- Lindsay Dearborn (Lebanon, NH)
- Dick Pearson (New London, NH)
- John Bartholomew (Hartland, VT)

 

Nobuaki Tanaka, Suzuki Instructor (aki.tanaka@uvmusic.org)
Nobuaki (Aki) Tanaka  comes to us from Japan by way of North Carolina.  He was the founding teacher of the UVMC Suzuki program which began instruction in 2005.  Aki has led the program to encompass a large studio with three instructors and  successfully created the First Annual 2007 Lebanon Summer Suzuki Workshop.  He is an experienced Suzuki violin teacher certified  in all Suzuki books (1-10). AKi has a BM in Music performance and music education  from Northern Arizona university with an emphasis in Suzuki pedagogy. He continued on to earn his MM in Music performance and Suzuki pedagogy from East Carolina University.  Aki is Registered for Suzuki training from book 1-10.  He has studied Suzuki pedagogy with  Louise Scott, Karin Hallberg, and Joanne Bath.  Aki has studied violin with Hana  Aoto, Hal Grossman, Louise Scott, Victor Liva, and Ara Gregorian. He is committed to the development  of individual playing skills as well as conveying the satisfaction of making  music with others.


Alissa Vassileva, Suzuki Instructor (alissa.vassileva@uvmusic.org)
Alissa Vassileva was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second city -- and home to the Dobrin-Petkov Music High School, whose graduates work and perform with prestigious musical institutions all over the world.  After graduatuation, Alissa earned her bachelors degree from Atlantic Union College in Massachusetts which is known for its excellent music facilities.  Subsequently, Alissa attended The Longy School of Music where she earned a MA in violin performance with an emphasis in string pedagogy.  Alissa's Suzuki credentials come from the University of Hartford's Hartt School of Music where she became Suzuki certified through Book 4.  While studying, she maintained a large private Suzuki studio as well as taught pedagogy classes to the college students at Atlantic Union College.  She has a third prize from the Dobrin Petkov Competition for Bulgarian Music, second and third prizes from the Thayer Young Artist Competition, and the first prize from the AUC Concerto Competition which allowed her to play as a soloist of an orchestra.  Alissa has been an instructor at UVMC since 2006, successfully juggling a full studio of Suzuki students with her simultaneous commitment to quality instruction for the UVMC Strings in Schools program.

Margaret Gilmore, Suzuki Instructor
Suzuki Cello Instructor Margaret Gilmore has taught cello and string orchestra classes at all levels for over 30 years.  She has degrees in cello performance and pedagogy but has also studied and played violin, viola, and sgring bass.  With experience playing in orchestras in the U.S., Europe, and MExico and participation in Suzuki institutes, she is well qualified to teach Suzuki and traditional students.

Krista Lampe, Managing Director (krista.lampe@uvmusic.org)
Krista Lampe has recently joined the UVMC staff as managing director.  She received her MPA from the Maxwell School of Citizenship at Syracuse University with an emphasis in non-profit management. Previous to that, she received BS from Cornell University.  Krista also has experience teaching eighth grade science teacher as a corps member with Teach For America (RGV 2004).  Krista has participated as an amateur viola player in no fewer than eight string and symphonic orchestras in various locations around the country.  She was originally trained in the Suzuki method, beginning her studies at the age of six, but continuing through fourteen years of private instruction at various levels including studies including the Cornell and Syracuse Universities music departments.

Janice Collins, Office Manager (info@uvmusic.org)
Jan has been with UVMC since 2005 and has greatly added to the capabilities of the UVMC in serving its clientele.