Buffalo Suzuki Strings

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MARY CAY NEAL Mary Cay Neal is the Founder and Executive Director of Buffalo Suzuki Strings, which is now in its 40th year of operation. At present, Mary Cay teaches 28 violin students and conducts the BSS Advanced Ensemble and the Friendship Touring Ensemble. Mary Cay holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from Georgia State University and has done post-graduate work in Suzuki Pedagogy. She has studied with Dr. Shinichi Suzuki on many occasions including: teacher-training workshops at the International Conferences in Hawaii in 1975 and 1977; Munich, Germany in 1979; Amherst, Massachusetts in 1981; Matsumoto, Japan in 1983; and has taught at the International Suzuki Teacher’s Conference in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1985; Adelaide, Australia in 1991; Matsumoto, Japan in 1999; and Torino, Italy in 2006. Mary Cay is a registered Teacher Trainer and has served on The Suzuki Association of the Americas Board of Directors for three terms. She has taught teacher training and violin at many Suzuki Institutes and workshops in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan and South America. NANCY BENZ Nancy Benz is a graduate of Ithaca College where she received her Bachelor of Music Degree in Music Education and Performance. She studied with Pamela Gearhart, who was both a violin teacher and conductor at Ithaca. For her Masters in Music Performance, she studied with Thomas Halpin through SUNY at the University of Buffalo. Mrs. Benz has done several Suzuki Teacher Training Workshops covering Books 1-5, and also attends the NYSSMA Summer Teacher Workshops. She has taught music in the Lancaster and Williamsville Public Schools, and currently teaches strings at Clarence Middle School. Her two children study violin at BSS and are also members of the BSS Advanced Ensemble. Her husband is a High School Art teacher in the Royalton Hartland School District. HEATHER GARCIA Heather Garcia began studying Suzuki viola at the age of nine in Greenville, SC with Lucie Fink. As a junior in high school, she was accepted into the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities and she graduated with honors. Heather attended University of Memphis music department on a full scholarship and in May 2007 received a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance with a concentration in Suzuki pedagogy. Heather has completed Suzuki Teacher Training in levels 1-5 with Kimberly Meier-Sims and Mary Cay Neal. In August 2007, Heather relocated to the Buffalo area to teach violin and viola at Buffalo Suzuki Strings. NATHAN KEAGLE A native and resident of Buffalo, NY, Nathan Keagle has established a versatile career in performance as well as teaching. He attended The Hartt School of Music and the State University of New York at Fredonia where he received his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees. He has also attended the Ithaca College Suzuki Institute, The Chautauqua Summer Music Festival and The New York State Summer School of the Arts in Saratoga. Mr. Keagle’s principle teachers include Roman Mekinulov, Natasha Farny, Arie Lipsky, Chaim Zemach, Nancy Anderson, Clyde Shaw, David Meyer, David Wells and David Finckel. Mr. Keagle has also studied chamber music with The Audubon String Quartet, The New Arts Trio, and The Emerson String Quartet. Currently, Mr. Keagle is the cello teacher at Buffalo Suzuki Strings. He was also an instructor at the Allegheny College Summer Music Festival, where he was a featured performer. He has also taught chamber music at the State University of New York at Fredonia, as well as Bravo Chamber Music Institute. Mr. Keagle performs with The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, The Southern Tier Symphony, The Orchard Park Symphony, The Chamber Music on Elmwood Festival and is a member of The Western New York Chamber Orchestra, where he is the Assistant Principal Cellist. Mr. Keagle has also performed as a soloist on numerous occasions. DAVID LEVINE David is Assistant Music Director of Buffalo Suzuki Strings and has taught violin and viola for the program since 1996. David grew up in Connecticut, and completed a B.S. in Music Education and a B.A. in Music at the University of Connecticut, as well as the M.M. in Suzuki Pedagogy at Ithaca College. He has studied violin and viola with several teachers, including Theodore Arm, Linda Case, Debra Moree, Sanford Reuning, and Almita and Roland Vamos. In addition to Suzuki violin teacher training at Ithaca College with Sanford Reuning, David has also taken violin training courses with Teri Einfeldt, John Kendall, Carrie Reuning, Stephanie Sandven and Mary Cay Neal, as well as many viola units with Elizabeth Stuen-Walker. David has been a faculty member of the TCU Suzuki Institute (Fort Worth, TX), Ithaca College Suzuki Institute (Ithaca, NY), The American Suzuki Institute (Stevens Point, WI), Suzuki Institutes in Columbus, Ohio and has been a guest clinician at workshops in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Texas, as well as in Canada and Brazil. In addition to teaching students, ages 3-18, at Buffalo Suzuki Strings, David is also an active freelance performer on both violin and viola in the Western New York area. SANDRA McELWAIN Sandra K. McElwain was born and grew up in a small town near Binghamton, NY. Although she begged to take piano lessons when she was 4 years old, her parents made her reluctantly wait until she was 6 to start with a traditional teacher. After being home schooled through high school, she attended Fredonia State University and graduated in 2007 with a B.M. in Piano Performance and Pedagogy. Sandra’s Suzuki Piano Teacher Training has been with Linda Gillette and Rita Hauck. In September of '07 Sandra began teaching 18 piano students at Buffalo Suzuki Strings. Her studio has now grown to over 40 students and is continuing to grow! When Sandra isn't in the Mozart studio, she's swimming, riding her bike, playing piano in her church's worship band, or just spending time outside. OH - and practicing every day she eats! Sarah Mitchell Sarah Mitchell is a Southern native, having “grown up” in Alabama, Tennessee and Texas. She began studying the violin at age 4

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