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!
