Violin Faculty
REAGAN BRASCH grew up in the Suzuki method studying with Paula Woyton in Texas. She graduated with a bachelors of music in violin performance and received her masters in music with an emphasis in Suzuki Pedagogy from the University of Denver. After teaching with Denver Talent Education for five years with James Maurer, she moved to Chicago to teach at the Music Institute of Chicago under the direction of Gilda Barston. She has had additional Suzuki training from Linda Fiore, Joanne Bath, Ann Smelser, Pat D’Ercole, Michele George, and Doris Preucil. Mrs. Brasch currently teaches at the University of Hartford Community Division in CT giving both private and group instruction in Suzuki. She also is program coordinator of the early childhood classes. She was awarded Outstanding Teacher by the Winnetka Alliance for Early Childhood. Mrs. Brasch has taught extensively at Suzuki institutes and workshops around the country.
Gabriel Bolkosky has performed and taught across the United States and abroad. He performs a diverse repertoire of classical and contemporary works, collaborating with different artists from many genres of music making. Over the last decade, Gabe has founded and directed the music festival, PhoenixPhest with the intent of creating an environment open to all levels and ages of musicians, creating a more holistic musical experience without sacrificing quality.
Gabe’s performances have focused in the areas of contemporary music, jazz and tango as well as traditional classical music. He has collaborated with many composers, among them Fredric Rzewski, William Bolcom, John Harbison, Thomas Ades, Bright Sheng, William Albright, Andrew Kirshner, Lars Holmer, Carter Pann, Michael Daugherty, George Tsontakis, Derek Bermel, and Bernard Rands.As a jazz and tango musician, Gabe has worked with great artists such as John Lindberg, Peter Soave, Tad Weed, Ed Sarath, Chris Howes, Andy Bishop, and is a founding member of The Oblivion Project.
A native of Detroit, Michigan, Gabe began his violin studies at age three. His primary teachers were Michael Avsharian of Ann Arbor, Paul Kantor at the University of Michigan, and Donald Weilerstein at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Gabe earned a bachelor’s degree in violin performance and a master’s degree in chamber music, as well as studying improvisation at the master’s level, at the University of Michigan. At the Cleveland Institute he earned a Professional Studies degree, served a year as Professor Weilerstein’s teaching assistant and won the school’s prestigious Darius Milhaud prize. He attended the Aspen Music Festival from 1991–98 on fellowship, first playing with the Aspen Chamber Symphony and then the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble for four years. During those four years he premiered hundreds of new works, and with his group, Non Sequitur, conducted workshops and concerts for thousands of students in the Aspen valley as well as at schools such as Harvard, Dartmouth, Brandeis and Princeton.
Gabe has released seven CDs that show his breadth as a musician. His debut solo album, This and That, features classical and jazz music. Other albums include The Shape of Klez to Come with the klezmer group Into the Freylakh; The Orchestra Is Here to Play, a live recording teaming the Gemini children’s-music group with a full orchestra; The Oblivion Project Live, showcasing the music of Astor Piazzolla; Non Sequitur, contemporary and experimental music, including one of his own compositions; Home from Work, an eclectic mix of jazz, folk and blues in collaboration with San Slomovits, and as sideman on John Lindberg’s recording Two by Five.
His most recent CD is Bonne Nuit, which includes the Debussy Sonata and other small works for violin and piano with Michele Cooker, and can be found here.
Gabe was guest artist at The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor teaching violin and chamber music for six years. He has worked with all ages of young musicians in most of the 50 states and parts of Asia. He is the director and owner of Education For Happiness and violist and founding member of The Bayberry String Quartet.
Gabe’s performances have focused in the areas of contemporary music, jazz and tango as well as traditional classical music. He has collaborated with many composers, among them Fredric Rzewski, William Bolcom, John Harbison, Thomas Ades, Bright Sheng, William Albright, Andrew Kirshner, Lars Holmer, Carter Pann, Michael Daugherty, George Tsontakis, Derek Bermel, and Bernard Rands.As a jazz and tango musician, Gabe has worked with great artists such as John Lindberg, Peter Soave, Tad Weed, Ed Sarath, Chris Howes, Andy Bishop, and is a founding member of The Oblivion Project.
A native of Detroit, Michigan, Gabe began his violin studies at age three. His primary teachers were Michael Avsharian of Ann Arbor, Paul Kantor at the University of Michigan, and Donald Weilerstein at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Gabe earned a bachelor’s degree in violin performance and a master’s degree in chamber music, as well as studying improvisation at the master’s level, at the University of Michigan. At the Cleveland Institute he earned a Professional Studies degree, served a year as Professor Weilerstein’s teaching assistant and won the school’s prestigious Darius Milhaud prize. He attended the Aspen Music Festival from 1991–98 on fellowship, first playing with the Aspen Chamber Symphony and then the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble for four years. During those four years he premiered hundreds of new works, and with his group, Non Sequitur, conducted workshops and concerts for thousands of students in the Aspen valley as well as at schools such as Harvard, Dartmouth, Brandeis and Princeton.
Gabe has released seven CDs that show his breadth as a musician. His debut solo album, This and That, features classical and jazz music. Other albums include The Shape of Klez to Come with the klezmer group Into the Freylakh; The Orchestra Is Here to Play, a live recording teaming the Gemini children’s-music group with a full orchestra; The Oblivion Project Live, showcasing the music of Astor Piazzolla; Non Sequitur, contemporary and experimental music, including one of his own compositions; Home from Work, an eclectic mix of jazz, folk and blues in collaboration with San Slomovits, and as sideman on John Lindberg’s recording Two by Five.
His most recent CD is Bonne Nuit, which includes the Debussy Sonata and other small works for violin and piano with Michele Cooker, and can be found here.
Gabe was guest artist at The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor teaching violin and chamber music for six years. He has worked with all ages of young musicians in most of the 50 states and parts of Asia. He is the director and owner of Education For Happiness and violist and founding member of The Bayberry String Quartet.
CARLA FRANCIS received her Bachelor’s degree in Music from The Cleveland Institute of Music and her Master’s degree in Violin Performance from Northwestern University. She has registered numerous training courses with the Suzuki Association of the Americas, including long-term training at the University of Denver and at The School for Strings. Carla has attended several music festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival and the Encore School for Strings. Her teachers have included Blair Milton, David Updegraff, Donald Weilerstein, Linda Cerone, James Maurer, and Louise Behrend. She enjoys teaching and performing, and has been a faculty member at various workshops and institutions around the country. She currently teaches at the Diller-Quaile School of Music and The School for Strings in New York.
NANCY JACKSON is the Assistant Director of the Western Springs School of Talent Education, in Western Springs, Illinois, where she teaches both violin and viola. She is a registered Violin Teacher Trainer with the Suzuki Association of the Americas, and is active in training young teachers locally and at summer institutes. Nancy holds a Bachelor of Music Education and a Master of Music in Violin Performance from Northwestern University. Her principal teachers were Talmadge Smith, Mary Ann Mumm, and Henryk Kowalski. Her Suzuki teacher training was done with Margery Aber, James Mauer, and Carol Dallinger. She founded the Suzuki School of Music in Bismarck, North Dakota, in 1986. She has also taught at the University of Evansville (IN) Suzuki program, and Western Illinois University. Nancy is an avid golfer and cyclist, and also enjoys spending time with her two cats, Mimi and Musetta.
VERA MCCOY-SULENTIC is director of the Suzuki program at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She has been a registered teacher trainer for the SAA since 1991 and conducts Suzuki teacher training at SIUE. A frequent clinician at Suzuki workshops, she has traveled throughout the US and Canada and has taught in Bermuda, Sweden, Taiwan, and Brazil. She was the recipient of SIUE’s Excellence in Teaching award in 1996. In 1988, Vera earned a master’s in music education from SIUE which included teacher training with John Kendall. Other Suzuki training has been with Mihoko Hirata, Yuko Mori, Evelyn Hermann, and Doris Pruecil. Academic degrees include a BM in music education from the University of Oregon and a BA in French from the University of Iowa. Thanks to two wonderful sons who studied violin and cello, she also has had two decades of Suzuki Parenting experience.
SUSAN MCDONALD is the Suzuki Program Coordinator for the Community Music School of Webster University in Missouri, where she has taught for over 25 years. She received her Music Education degree from Lawrence University Conservatory and her Masters degree in Violin Performance from Western Illinois University. She has taught at numerous workshops and institutes across the country and is a former faculty member of the University City Public Schools, WIU Suzuki Program, Knox/Galesburg Suzuki Program, and Lawrence University Preparatory Program. She was awarded the Byron Hester award for Excellence in Teaching as a member of the Colorado Suzuki Institute faculty in 2000. Ms. McDonald studied with Almita Vamos, John Kendall, Francesca Koscielny and Karen Clarke and is a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas and American String Teachers Association.
ANN MONTZKA-SMELSER began playing violin at the age of 3 with the help of her mother and father, Marilyn and Arthur Montzka. Later she studied under Kazuko Numanami and Sarah Hersh at the Oberlin College Suzuki Program and later with Rebecca Sandrok and Pierre Menard. In between receiving her Bachelors of Music Education and Masters in Performance and Pedagogue at Northern Illinois University, Ann studied with Dr. Shinichi Suzuki at the Talent Education Institute in Matsumoto, Japan.
After college, Ann toured extensively with the Ruggieri String Quartet to all four corners of the United States through Columbia Artists Management. Ann has performed in many orchestras and chamber ensembles and is currently principal 2nd violinist with Camerata Chicago and concertmaster of the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
In 2003 Ann received the Hester Byron Excellence in Teaching Award and in 2013 was inducted into the Sycamore Music Booster’s Hall of Fame receiving the Legacy Award and in 2019 was inducted into the DeKalb Music Booster’s Hall of Fame receiving the MUSE award.
Ann is a lifetime member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas and has been invited to present at several SAA Conferences. Ann has served as coordinator of the Suzuki Youth Orchestras of the Americas in 2006 and 2008 and coordinator for Violin at the 2014 and 2016 National Suzuki Conferences held in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Ann became a Registered Suzuki Teacher Trainer in 2005 and currently teaches Suzuki Pedagogy at both Northwestern University and Northern Illinois University. Ann teaches about 40 private students and is director of the NIU, CSA Suzuki Strings Program at NIU and a teacher at the Music Institute of Chicago in Winnetka. Ann enjoys working with Suzuki families and teachers at Suzuki Institutes and workshops throughout the United States. Ann was a guest teacher at the 2010 International String Conference in Singapore and has given Teacher Training courses in Lima, Peru, Costa Rica and Mexico City.
Ann lives in DeKalb, IL with her husband, Linc, and her Golden Retriever, Chloe. Linc and Ann are proud Suzuki parents of their daughter, Genevieve, and son, Benjamin, who are currently pursuing music in college.
After college, Ann toured extensively with the Ruggieri String Quartet to all four corners of the United States through Columbia Artists Management. Ann has performed in many orchestras and chamber ensembles and is currently principal 2nd violinist with Camerata Chicago and concertmaster of the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
In 2003 Ann received the Hester Byron Excellence in Teaching Award and in 2013 was inducted into the Sycamore Music Booster’s Hall of Fame receiving the Legacy Award and in 2019 was inducted into the DeKalb Music Booster’s Hall of Fame receiving the MUSE award.
Ann is a lifetime member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas and has been invited to present at several SAA Conferences. Ann has served as coordinator of the Suzuki Youth Orchestras of the Americas in 2006 and 2008 and coordinator for Violin at the 2014 and 2016 National Suzuki Conferences held in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Ann became a Registered Suzuki Teacher Trainer in 2005 and currently teaches Suzuki Pedagogy at both Northwestern University and Northern Illinois University. Ann teaches about 40 private students and is director of the NIU, CSA Suzuki Strings Program at NIU and a teacher at the Music Institute of Chicago in Winnetka. Ann enjoys working with Suzuki families and teachers at Suzuki Institutes and workshops throughout the United States. Ann was a guest teacher at the 2010 International String Conference in Singapore and has given Teacher Training courses in Lima, Peru, Costa Rica and Mexico City.
Ann lives in DeKalb, IL with her husband, Linc, and her Golden Retriever, Chloe. Linc and Ann are proud Suzuki parents of their daughter, Genevieve, and son, Benjamin, who are currently pursuing music in college.
CRYSTAL PLOHMAN WIEGMAN (Fiddling) has been teaching her unique “holistic” approach to playing the violin which builds on the tried and true repertoire and pedagogy of Suzuki method, while teaching chords, songs and improv from her new Suzuki based fiddle curriculum, Fiddle and Song (co-authored with Renata Bratt and Bob Phillips).
Crystal recently completed 24 years of teaching violin/fiddle at Vanderbilt University where she is a Senior Artist Teacher of Suzuki Violin and Fiddling at the Blair School of Music. Raised in the Suzuki program as one of the first students of the late Alison Rhiles and the Brandon University Suzuki program, Crystal went on to follow in her father’s footsteps as champion Canadian fiddler. She is the only person to place as a top finalist (top 4) in both the Canadian and American Grand Masters Championships, as well as the Canadian Open Fiddling Championships. After successfully competing for 15 years across Canada and the US, Crystal moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1994 after an invitation from Mark O’Connor to be his assistant in his fiddle program at Vanderbilt University. Crystal later went on to serve as Director of the Fiddling program and created the International Fiddle School. She has worked with Chet Atkins and other country greats and performed in several countries including Ireland, Japan, and China.
Crystal is most widely known for her work with children and teachers in her clinic program, “Connecting the Strings” which has been presented at hundreds of schools and educator conferences across the country. She has served as the fiddle instructor at many weekend workshops and summer Suzuki institutes including Chicago, Atlanta, Memphis, Baltimore, Florida and Colorado.
Crystal recently completed 24 years of teaching violin/fiddle at Vanderbilt University where she is a Senior Artist Teacher of Suzuki Violin and Fiddling at the Blair School of Music. Raised in the Suzuki program as one of the first students of the late Alison Rhiles and the Brandon University Suzuki program, Crystal went on to follow in her father’s footsteps as champion Canadian fiddler. She is the only person to place as a top finalist (top 4) in both the Canadian and American Grand Masters Championships, as well as the Canadian Open Fiddling Championships. After successfully competing for 15 years across Canada and the US, Crystal moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1994 after an invitation from Mark O’Connor to be his assistant in his fiddle program at Vanderbilt University. Crystal later went on to serve as Director of the Fiddling program and created the International Fiddle School. She has worked with Chet Atkins and other country greats and performed in several countries including Ireland, Japan, and China.
Crystal is most widely known for her work with children and teachers in her clinic program, “Connecting the Strings” which has been presented at hundreds of schools and educator conferences across the country. She has served as the fiddle instructor at many weekend workshops and summer Suzuki institutes including Chicago, Atlanta, Memphis, Baltimore, Florida and Colorado.
SHIGETOSHI YAMADA studied at the Toho Gakuen University in Tokyo under Hideo Saito, Etsuko Hirose, Saburo Sumi and William Primrose. After graduating, he was encouraged to study violin in Europe by Shinichi Suzuki. Following Dr. Suzukiʼs recommendation, Mr. Yamada entered the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, Netherlands. In the Netherlands, he studied baroque violin under Sigiswald Kuijken and Lucy Van Dael. During this time, he performed in an ensemble with Frans Bruggen and participated in a number of concerts with Nicolaus Harnoncourt. Upon his graduation for the Royal Conservatoire, Mr. Yamada was invited to come to Ann Arbor, Michigan to join the faculty of Ann Arbor Suzuki Institute and join the Ars Musica Baroque Orchestra. With this ensemble, he participated in numerous live performances and recordings. In Michigan, Mr. Yamada studied modern violin under Ruggiero Ricci and went on to become the principal violinist of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Yamada has given solo recitals in the United States, Canada, Japan, Germany and Venezuela. He has performed as a concertmaster with various baroque orchestras in Dallas, Kansas City and Milwaukee. In 2001, Mr. Yamada performed in the Chicago Symphonyʼs chamber music series. Currently, he teaches at the Music Institute of Chicago and is a techer-trainer of the S.A.A. He actively researches the development of violin technique from the Baroque period to modern times.
