Piano Faculty

SUSANNE BAKER is the founder and director of the DePaul Community Music Division, a program housed in the School of Music that enrolls 700 students of all ages with a 70-member faculty. In the pre-college division, Susanne teaches both traditional and Suzuki piano students as well as Suzuki group classes. Her Suzuki Pedagogy training was with Doris Koppelman. Susanne is a frequent adjudicator in the Chicago area, teaches on the summer faculty of the Chicago Suzuki Institute, serves on the Committee of School Directors of the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts, and is the 2011-12 Convener for the Chicago Consortium of Community Music Schools. In addition, she has written articles for Clavier Companion and the Illinois State Music Teachers Association Newsletter.
Susanne is also an adjunct faculty member in the DePaul School of Music where she teaches piano pedagogy and coordinates the group piano program. She holds a Doctorate in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Northwestern University, a Masters in Piano Performance from American University, a Master of Arts in Education and Music from the University of Wisconsin, and a Bachelor’s degree from Bucknell University.
Susanne is also an adjunct faculty member in the DePaul School of Music where she teaches piano pedagogy and coordinates the group piano program. She holds a Doctorate in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Northwestern University, a Masters in Piano Performance from American University, a Master of Arts in Education and Music from the University of Wisconsin, and a Bachelor’s degree from Bucknell University.

CAROLINE FRASER is from Scotland. She graduated from Edinburgh University with a Bachelor of Music degree and studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London obtaining the diplomas Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music and Associate of the Royal College of Music in piano and violin. She obtained a Masters of Music degree with Kodaly emphasis from Holy Names University (HNU). Caroline started to teach using the Suzuki method in 1974 in California. She pioneered the Suzuki method in Peru in 1981. From 1992 until 1999 she was a lecturer in music theory at HNU, where she continues to direct the Summer Suzuki Piano Teacher Training Institute. Caroline is an ESA, SAA and ARSO teacher trainer. She lives in Lima, Peru and is one of the Latin American liaisons for the SAA. She has given teacher training courses all over Latin America, in the USA, Canada, Europe, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Born and raised in Germany, Korean pianist YUMY LEE KIM made her debut with the Hamburger Sinfonietta at the age of 15 at the Laeiszhalle Hamburg. After winning competitions, such as Steinway & Sons, German Teachers Association and Jugend Musiziert, she appeared at various German TV and radio stations (Radio Hamburg, NDR 3). At the age of 16, she was accepted at the prestigious preparatory division of the University of Music in Luebeck, where she continued her musical studies. After receiving diplomas in piano performance, piano pedagogy and a post-graduate performance certificate in Germany, she finished her studies at Northwestern University with a DMA degree in Piano Performance as a scholarship recipient of the Dorothy L. Pound Award. Yumy Lee Kim performed as a soloist with the Hamburger Sinfonietta, Hildesheim Philharmonie and Ahrensburg Youth Orchestra and performed in Germany, Spain, Hungary, Swiss, Denmark, South Korea and the U.S. Being a devoted educator as well, she currently serves as faculty member at DePaul University (CMD), the Music Institute of Chicago, and adjudicates at local piano competitions. She fully embraces the Suzuki Method for piano in her teaching and was trained by Caroline Fraser.

ANNETTE LEE has been a Suzuki teacher since 1988. She received her BM in piano performance from Wheaton Conservatory and her MM in piano performance from the University of Michigan, where she was a fellowship student under Louis Nagle and Martin Katz. Her Suzuki training has been with Yasuko Joichi, Doris Koppelman, Jane Kutscher Reed, Rick Mooney, Fay Adams and Mary Craig Powell.
Ms. Lee has taught at the Music Institute of Chicago and DePaul University and is currently on faculty at the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis. At MacPhail, she is a Suzuki teacher, is a staff accompanist for the Suzuki Department and hosts Teacher Training for Piano. She is a frequent clinician at Suzuki Institutes, having taught in Stevens Point, WI, Blue Lake Institute, MI, Mt. Royal Academy, Calgary, Suzuki Piano Program in Saskatoon, the Wheaton Preparatory Department, IL, the Preucil School in IA and at the Colorado Suzuki Institute.
Ms. Lee has taught at the Music Institute of Chicago and DePaul University and is currently on faculty at the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis. At MacPhail, she is a Suzuki teacher, is a staff accompanist for the Suzuki Department and hosts Teacher Training for Piano. She is a frequent clinician at Suzuki Institutes, having taught in Stevens Point, WI, Blue Lake Institute, MI, Mt. Royal Academy, Calgary, Suzuki Piano Program in Saskatoon, the Wheaton Preparatory Department, IL, the Preucil School in IA and at the Colorado Suzuki Institute.

Originally from Malaysia, CHRISTINA TIO attended the Birmingham Conservatoire in the United Kingdom to study piano where she earned her Performing Diploma, a Teaching Diploma, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Central England. She continued on to complete her Masters degree in Piano Performance at the University of Reading, where she studied with Frank Wibaut from the Royal Academy of Music, London. Her mentors over the years also include Malcolm Wilson and Alison Pottinger and she has participated in master classes by Peter Donohoe, Anne Queffelec, Renna Kallaway, Christine Faron, Gordon Fergus-Thompson, Anthony Saunders, Joseph Weingarten and Venessa Latarche. Meanwhile, she was a regular artist for Birmingham Conservatoire Concert Series as soloist and accompanist, and was the winner of the prestigious BMI Piano competition. Soon after, Christina took a turn in her music studies. She began her musicological research on a scholarship with Nicholas Cook; under whose guidance, she completed her PhD in Musicology at the University of Southampton.
While completing her doctoral dissertation, Christina assumed the position of lecturer at Universiti Putra Malaysia, and taught there for two years. Her students performed successful recitals, and completed musicological papers that advanced them to graduate programs at universities in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States. A period of busy freelancing teaching schedule followed, as she taught and conducted seminars as a guest lecturer at music colleges and major universities in Kuala Lumpur, including the University of Malaya, the National Arts Academy, Sedaya International University College and the Malaysian Institute of Arts. She taught applied piano, courses in music history, music theory and supervised graduate and undergraduate degree projects. From March 2004, Christina resumed a full-time faculty position, this time as a senior lecturer at the Music Department of Universiti Teknologi Mara. She left Malaysia in April 2005 to the United States to join her husband who is working in Chicago. As a dedicated music educator, Christina maintains a studio wherever she resides, as a fulfillment of her great passion for music teaching.
Christina obtained certification as a Suzuki piano teacher with Doris Koppelman, Rita Hauck, Mary Craig Powell and Caroline Fraser and has since devoted herself to teaching the piano by the Suzuki method. Her teaching style has also been influence by Leah Brammer who was mentored by Haruko Kataoka, co-founder for the Suzuki Piano School. Presently, Christina holds a Suzuki Piano faculty position at the Music Institute of Chicago.