Who's Who at the Center for Young Musicians: Elisabeth Graham

A new school year will mean fresh faces at the Center for Young Musicians! We are excited to announce that new violin and early childhood music teachers will be joining the CYM family, bringing unique experiences and solid training in music education. And as always, we happily look forward to greeting new students and their families.

To help everyone get to know each other a little better, we’ll be posting short bios on all the CYM teachers and staff.  First, we introduce you to Elisabeth Graham, who joins CYM as a Violin Teacher.

 

Elisabeth Graham began her violin career at the age of 3 and has since earned a Masters of Music in Music and Human Learning from the University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX) and Bachelor of Music degrees in Violin Performance and Music Pedagogy from Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). 

Ms. Graham has served on the faculties of The University of Texas String Project (Austin, TX), Regents School of Austin (Austin, TX), the YaGe Community Arts School (Kunming, Yunnan, China), and the Community School of the Arts (Wheaton, IL). She has studied violin with Sandy Yamamoto, Jeri-Lou Zike, and Dr. Paul Vanderwerf and viola with Li-Kuo Chang, Clara Takarabe, and Claudia Lasareff-Mironoff. Ms. Graham also holds certifications as a Suzuki Instructor for Suzuki violin and viola and Suzuki Early Childhood Education. 

Additionally, she is certified as an Orff Level I instructor for general music education. In 2010, Elisabeth spent the summer in Kunming, a city in southwestern China, where she worked as a private lesson and group class music teacher at the YaGe Community Art Center and established the string program in existence at the center today. Outside of music and teaching, Ms. Graham loves horseback riding, classic literature, hiking and camping, and a good cup of tea.

Q & A with CYM:

CYM: What is your favorite piece of music to play? 

Ms. Elisabeth:  Kabalevsky's Improvisation 

CYM: If you could have lunch with anyone, who would it be and where would you eat? 

Ms. Elisabeth: G.K. Chesterton at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub in London 

CYM: What is your favorite treat to eat?  

Ms. Elisabeth: Two favorites: bananas with peanut butter and fudgesicles

CYM: What has music given you? 

Ms. Elisabeth: What I love about music and being a music teacher is that it allows me to have meaningful connections with people in all walks of life in ways that would not otherwise be possible. 

CYM: Favorite childhood book? 

Ms. Elisabeth: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Be sure to extend a friendly "hello" to MS. Elisabeth this Fall!