ESSM Co-director
Violin co-ordinator
Teaches: violin, viola and group classes

Bachelor of Music Education
ARCT (Royal Conservatory of Music)
Suzuki teacher training to Book 10

For over 30 years Margot has enjoyed working with young people and their families, first at the Hamilton Suzuki School where she taught violin and was also the director and more recently at the Etobicoke Suzuki School of Music which she co-founded in 1982.

She has a Bachelor of Music Education from McMaster University and her ARCT from the Royal Conservatory of Music. She obtained her Suzuki teacher training in Canada, Unites States, France and Japan.

Margot has performed in groups such as the National Youth Orchestra, Hamilton Philharmonic, Symphony Niagara, Te Deum Orchestra, the Aradia Ensemble, as well as many free lance groups.

Margot is a festival adjudicator across Canada and is a Royal Conservatory of Music Examiner and the string representative on the Council of Examiners. She is also a reviewer for the 2013 violin RCM syllabus.

In the summers, Margot enjoys teaching at Suzuki Summer Institutes as well as at National Music Camp and Huckleberry Music Camp.

She has been on the Board of the Suzuki Association of Ontario, and did committee work for the Suzuki Association of the Americas. Her articles have been published by the SAO newsletter and SAA journal.

Margot is mother to two young adults who were Suzuki students.

Teaching schedule and location:

• East Etobicoke (Kingsway area; Burnhamthorpe & Dundas)
• Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 7:45 am until 9:00 pm

ESSM Co-director
Cello co-ordinator
Teaches: cello and group classes

Bachelor of Music Performance
Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology

Tricia Balmer has a Bachelor of Music Performance and BA in Anthropology from University of Toronto. She has done Suzuki teacher training in Canada, US and Europe.

She was a Strings Specialist with the Etobicoke School Board of Education for 10 years. Tricia has worked as a festival adjudicator and workshop clinician across Canada and has performed with various ensembles in the Toronto area.

Teaching schedule and location:

• Tuesday all day and Thursday afternoon and evening,Central Etobicoke
• Friday afternoon and early evening, West Toronto (Oakwood and St. Clair area)

Teaches: violin and group classes

Bachelor of Music Education
ARCT piano

Kaylee was a Suzuki student in both violin and piano. She has a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Toronto and her ARCT in piano (RCM). She played with the National Youth Orchestra. She has done Suzuki teacher training in Canada.

She also teaches strings with the TDSB as well as piano & theory in her own studio. Kaylee performs in various chamber groups, orchestras & festivals.

Teaching schedule and location:

• South Etobicoke
• Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon

Teaches: Music and Movement

Bachelor of Music and Diploma in Education from McGill U.
Kodaly, Orff and Dalcroze Music Pedagogy from the RCM
Diploma in Dance from George Brown College

Suzanne has studied piano, dance, viola and flute. She has performed as a musician (pianist, accompanist, singer, violist – Winnipeg Junior South Orchestra), and dancer (ballet, modern, jazz).

She has worked as a musical and choir director, ballet and music accompanist and music teacher. Currently, Suzanne also teaches Music and Movement at the Pia Bouman School of Ballet and Creative Movement and piano lessons, is Choir Director at Epiphany Lutheran Church, and also works as an accompanist and rehearsal pianist.

Suzanne aspires to inspire her students of all ages through music!

Teaches: violins

Bachelor of Arts in Music, Brandeis University
Master of Arts in Musicology, Brandeis University
Master of Music, Violin Performance, The Boston Conservatory
PhD candidate, York University

Zack began studying the violin at the age of three with Leslie Fayette at the North Shore Suzuki School in Setauket, New York. Since then, Zack has studied with Lazar Gosman, Daniel Stepner, and Joseph McGauley. He is currently a student of Jacques Israelievitch.

Zack has performed in recital and in chamber music concerts throughout North America and Israel. He has been on the faculties of the Duxbury Music Festival and the South Shore Conservatory where he also served as chair of the Suzuki Strings Department.

In addition to playing and teaching the violin Zack enjoys hiking, skiing, and collecting rubber ducks.

Teaching schedule and location:

• Central Etobicoke (Kipling & Eglinton area)
• Schedule not set yet

Teaches: violins

Bachelor of Education
Bachelor of Science

Mary was a co-founder of ESSM in 1982. She has taught with the Suzuki program at Seneca College. She has done Suzuki teacher training at Ithaca, NY and is an experienced workshop clinician. She holds a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Education and teaches with the TCDSB. She is a Suzuki mother and grandmother.

Teaching schedule and location:

• Central Etobicoke (Kipling & Eglinton area)
• Thursday 4:30 - 6:30

Teaches: ESM orchestras

Alfreda taught school as a music specialist for over 30 years at both the elementary and secondary levels. Most recently, she was TDSB Coordinator of Music. Her responsibilities included the development and implementation of music programs for over 550 elementary and secondary schools, as well as the management of a staff of 120 professional musicians who instructed in these schools.

Alfreda has also taught private piano, violin and viola. For 16 years, she held the position of Conductor of the Mississauga Chamber Players and in 2003, joined the artistic staff of the Mississauga Youth Orchestra where she conducted the Chamber Players. She has also conducted the TDSB Youth String Orchestra, an auditioned group of secondary school students as well as the all-city String Ensemble.

A frequent adjudicator and clinician, Alfreda also serves on the Board of the Kiwanis Music Festival of Greater Toronto, and the Alliance of Ontario Music Educators.

Teaches: violin</p>

Bachelor of Music Performance

Wendy was one of the first Canadian Suzuki students (Edmonton, Alberta). She has her ARCT gold medal (RCM) and a Bachelor of Music in Performance from Indiana University. She played in the National Youth orchestra. Wendy has done Suzuki teacher training in Canada and the US.

Wendy is an examiner for the RCM. She has performed with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and currently performs with the national Ballet Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, and other free lance groups. She is the mother of two former Suzuki students.

Teaching schedule and location:

• Bloor West Village area
• Monday afternoon and evening
• Tuesday afternoon and early evening
• Friday morning and after school until 6:30

Teaches: violin and group classes

Bachelor of Science in Violin Performance
Master of Arts in Music Education

A newcomer to Toronto, Debra has played and taught violin in a variety of settings since the age of four. She received a Bachelor of Science in Violin Performance from Indiana University and a Master of Arts in Music Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She studied Suzuki pedagogy at Indiana University and received her Suzuki certification through the School for Strings in New York City. She has also taught Early Childhood music classes in New York and received New York State Music Teaching Certification for grades K-12.

Teaching schedule and location:

• Central Etobicoke (Kipling Ave and Eglinton Ave area)
• Monday afternoon and evening

Teaches: cello

Originally from Halifax, cellist Tova Rosenberg has recently returned to Canada after eight years of performing and teaching in New York City. Incorporating her extensive Suzuki training and love of working with young children, she has developed exciting programs for cello ensembles as well as early childhood music education. Tova was the director of the Early Childhood Music Program at the prestigious New York School for Strings, where she taught both early childhood classes and Suzuki cello. She was also on the cello faculty at the Diller-Quaile School of Music and the Third Street Music School Settlement.

She holds an M.M. from DePaul University and a B.M. from McGill and is a graduate of the School for Strings Suzuki Cello 2 year intensive Teacher Training Program. An active performer, Tova was a founding member of the TEA trio. Tova was artist-in-residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts, where she performed with Edgar Meyer, Geoff Nuttall, Menahem Pressler and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi. Since moving to Toronto, Tova has been appointed to the faculty of Etobicoke Suzuki Music and holds cello and early childhood music classes in the Music in the Barns program at the Wychwood Barns. Tova also teaches from her home studio in Roncesvalles.

Teaches: violin

Bachelor of Music, Violin Performance, McGill University
Masters of Music, Violin Performance, Peabody Conservatory

Born in Kingston, Julia began her violin studies in the Suzuki method at the age of five. After being accepted, at age 14, as the youngest member of the National Youth Orchestra, Julia went on to make her solo debut with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. While pursuing a Bachelors degree in Performance at McGill University and a Masters degree in Performance at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Julia studied with Mauricio Fuks, Yehonatan Berick, and Herbert Greenberg. Julia has played in the Kingston Symphony Orchestra, Lancaster Symphony Orchestra, Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, Les Jeunes Virtuoses, Niagara Symphony Orchestra and Talisker Players. From 2000 to 2003, Julia was Principal Second Violin of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, Saskatchewan Chamber Orchestra, and the Saskatoon Opera Orchestra. During the same time, she served as Co-Artistic Director and Co-Concertmaster of Prairie Virtuosi, Saskatchewan's only Baroque and Classical chamber orchestra.

As a registered Suzuki teacher with the Suzuki Association of the Americas and the Suzuki Association of Ontario, Julia has been teaching Suzuki violin for 23 years and has taught with the Kingston Suzuki program, Beaurepaire Suzuki Strings (Montreal) and the Saskatoon Suzuki Strings Program. She has also taught at Institut Suzuki Montreal as a chamber music coach for the chamber music program. Julia is an active free lance violinist in Toronto and throughout southern Ontario, a founding member of the Glenellen String Quartet and concertmaster of the NYCO Symphony Orchestra.

She also has two young daughters, one of whom studies Suzuki violin at ESM. Julia is an avid reader, loves to knit and crotchet and has two amazing Tibetan Terriers.

Teaching schedule:

• Monday afternoon/evening at Islington United Church