UVMC Suzuki School

Return to Workshop Home

Faculty

Masako Barrowes (Japanese Arts)

Masako Barrowes was born in Oguni-city, Kumamoto prefecture on the island of Kyuushuu, Japan. She met her future husband Ben Barrowes while she was serving for two years as a religious volunteer in Tokyo. After moving to the US in 1996, she has lived in Utah, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and since 2005 in Lyme, NH. Currently, she is studying to become a nurse, is vice president of the Lyme PTO, and is working as a Japanese/English professional medical translator. Her interests include Japanese/America relations, Japanese calligraphy, and Japanese archery (in which she is a first level blackbelt). Masako is also the assistant designer and builder of her house as well as a devoted mother.

Violaine Brochu (Cello/Orchestra)
Violaine Brochu learned to play the piano at an early age and also studied theory, sightreading, solfège, and the Martenot method as a young child.  As a teen, she began playing the cello and studied under Pierre and Huguette Morin in Québec City.  She played the cello as an amateur for many years and participated in many chamber music groups and summer music camps as well as orchestras in Montreal and Quebec.  Violaine currently works as a substitute music teacher and teaches cello privately.  She did her Suzuki teacher training at the Sosi Institute, and with Catherine Walker.  She currently studies with Gary Russell.

Mary Chris DeBelina Doyle (Creative Movement/Dance)
Mary Chris DeBelina has been dancing for 25 years, and is trained in ballet, jazz,
tap and modern. In 2005 she graduated from Dartmouth College where she studied
Dance and Biology. She received her MFA in Dance from Sarah Lawrence College in
Bronxville, NY in the spring of 2008. At Dartmouth, Mary Chris studied under Professor
Ford Evans and performed pieces by Professor Evans, Terry Creach, Laura Dean and
Marina Harris. In the summer of 2005, she traveled to the University of Utah to
attend the Virginia Tanner Children's Creative Dance Teacher Workshop, and subsequently
founded Children's Creative Dance at Dartmouth. At Sarah Lawrence, Mary Chris
studied under Sara Rudner and performed works by Twyla Tharp and Trisha Brown.
While in graduate school, she taught adult dance classes at the college and children's
creative dance in the New York public school system.  She currently teaches dance
through the Hop Dance program at Dartmouth.

Jody Harmon (Violin/Viola/Improvisation)
Jody Harmon was recently honored to receive the 2003 Massachusetts Studio Teacher of the Year Award presented by Massachusetts ASTA with NSOA.  She has been a Suzuki violin teacher for 20 years, and maintains a studio in Westford, MA, with 35 students ranging from beginning Suzuki students to advanced concerto players.  Jody is founder and director of the Westford Chamber Players, an organization whose mission is to involve young sting players in chamber music ensembles, and to give them frequent opportunities to perform at community events.  The high school chamber groups in her program frequently play professional gigs; four different high school groups have recorded on compilation CDs. Jody is author of Improvise!, and is co-author, with jazz violinist John Blake, Jazz Improvisation Made Easy.  Both books have received acclaim from string players and teachers worldwide, and are now distributed through ASTA and NSOA.  Since 1992, with the publication of Jazz Improvisation Made Easy, Jody has been in the forefront of the movement encouraging string players to learn to improvise.  (For more information on Jody’s publications, please visit http://www.stringimprov.com

.

Naomi Kusano (Music Mind Games/Accompanist)

was born in California, moved to Malaysia when she was two and lived in Japan during her school years where she studied Suzuki violin. She graduated with a degree in piano from the Conservatorio Statale di Musica “L.Cherubini” di Firenze in Italy. She completed her long-term Suzuki teacher training at the British Suzuki Institute, England and holds a Diploma from the European Suzuki Association. Additional Suzuki training includes studying with Dr. Suzuki, Dr. Kataoka and Mr. Takahashi at the Talent Education Research Institute, Japan.  She first met Michiko Yurko, creator of Music Mind Games (MMG), in 1995 and since then has been using MMG to teach theory to her own students as well as at workshops. She completed Music Mind Games Unit 1, Unit 2 and Workshop Unit Teacher Training with Michiko, and takes part in her bi-monthly work/study groups.

Former faculty member at the Levine School of Music, Naomi maintains a private Suzuki piano studio in the Washington DC area. She has taught at workshops and institutes in Iceland, Italy, Holland, England and US.

Lisa Lederer (Violin/Viola)

B.M., Boston University; graduate studies, Longy School of Music; Suzuki Teacher Training, New England Conservatory and American Suzuki Institute. Violin with Roman Totenberg, Dana Mazurkevich and Jack Bosen. Performances: New Hampshire Symphony, Boston Classical Orchestra, Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Portland Symphony. Former Director, Massachusetts Suzuki Festival. Past president: Suzuki Music Schools, Inc. Guest clinician: Pioneer Valley Suzuki Festival, Massachusetts Suzuki Festival, Wellesley Suzuki Celebration. Faculty: Somerville Public Schools String Camp. Former faculty: New School of Music.

Margaret Hopkins (Violin/Viola)

Margaret Bruziak Hopkins was born in Poland and began violin studies at age 7, adding piano at age 12 once she moved to the USA.  She was a member of the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra and fiddler for the Polish Dancers of Boston.  Ms. Hopkins received BM in Performance from U. Mass. at Lowell where she also pursued Music Education.  Ms. Hopkins received extensive Suzuki training at IthacaCollege in NY, Hartt College at University of CT, New York State University in Buffalo and Capital University in Ohio.  She has performed in her native Poland, Switzerland, Israel, England, Scotland, Wales, Canada and in the United States.  She is a member of the Suzuki Association of Americas and Maine Suzuki Association.  She is the past president of Maine Suzuki Association.  Ms Hopkins is the secretary of Maine ASTA w/NSOA and also serves on the board of Maine Music Educators Association as Orchestra VP.  Ms. Hopkins also teaches Suzuki violin at Old Orchard Beach schools, at Portland Conservatory of Music and at her private home-based studio.

Ariel Kennedy (Violin/Viola)
Ariel is very pleased to be the newest violin teacher of the Upper Valley Music Center's Suzuki program! She holds a B.M. in Violin Performance from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Stephen Shipps, and also earned a B.A. in English. Her Suzuki training has been done with Ann Montzka-Smelser and Julia Hardie at the Colorado Suzuki Institute at Beaver Creek.

Lissa Thomas (Violin/Viola)
Lissa holds a B.A. in Violin Performance and Music Education from Northern Arizona University. She studied with Dr. Louise Scott and completed Long Term Suzuki Teacher Training for Violin. Ms. Thomas created and ran Dolce Studios, a successful Suzuki program in Minneapolis, MN before moving to New Hampshire.  She has been an active member of the Suzuki Community for 15 years.  She has taught at the Chiziibii Suzuki Institute in Bemidji, MN, as well as served as an adjudicator for various festivals. She has performed with Flagstaff Symphony, Arizona Opera Company, and Bloomington Symphony in Minnesota.  Ms. Thomas is currently starting a Suzuki Program at the Concord Community Music School

Links to Useful Information:
- The Suzuki Approach
- The Suzuki Faculty
- UVMC Suzuki Blog - UVMC Suzuki parents can access the site by sending a request to uvmcsuzuki@gmail.com
- Prospective Suzuki Students
- Suzuki Calendar
- Suzuki Photo Gallery

If you would like UVMC's Suzuki students to perform, or more information about the program please email info@uvmusic.org or call the UVMC at 603-448-1642.