Faculty
Faculty
Violin:
- Dr. Geoffrey Herd (Director)
Violinist Geoffrey Herd dedicates his diverse musical career to enriching cultural landscapes and fostering musical talent within communities. His rolesas a soloist, chamber musician, artistic director, and educator have allowed him to engage audiences in concert halls across the globe and support the development of aspiring musicians.Dr. Herd has performed in reputable venues such as the Isabel Stewart Gardner Museum of Art in Boston, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, and universities and conservatories worldwide. His solo engagements have included the Louisville Orchestra, The Thailand Philarhmonic, the Rochester Philharmonicand others significant orchestras. He collaborates with the most distinguished musicians of our time including Jinjoo Cho, Molly Carr, Clive Greensmith, Frank Huang, Ani Kavafian, Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and others.
In addition to his performance career, Dr. Herd is the founder and director of the Geneva Music Festival. This platform unites accomplished classical and jazz performers and has gained national recognition in its 14th season, with performances regularly broadcast on major media outlets across thecountry. Furthering his leadership activities, Dr. Herd also serves as the CEO and co-artistic director of ATX Chamber Music and Jazz, one of the nation’s most innovative chamber music societies.
A distinguished pedagogue, Dr. Herd is on the faculty at the University of Louisville School of Music where he guides a dynamic studio of students from around the world. His students have successfully participated in prestigious festivals, pursued further education at top institutions, and secured wins in nationwide competitions. A proponent of pre-collegiate music education, Dr. Herd is the co-director of the Knoxville Suzuki Academy and served as the president of the Tennessee Chapter of the American String Teachers’ Association. He maintains an exclusive pre-collegiate studio in Louisville and is the director of the newly founded, Louisville Virtuosi.
He received his musical training at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, the Yale School of Music, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. He performs on the “Berkic-Pennington” Carlo Bergonzi violin, crafted in Cremonain 1737.
Message to participants:
I’m so excited to share information about our upcoming String Institute!
We have a distinguished line-up of faculty for our programs designed to inspire and nurture students from every background. In addition to our usual Suzuki and non-Suzuki programs, I’m also excited for our Advanced String Summit, happening simultaneously. This program is for high-school and college students who want an intensive summer program to bring their playing to the next level. These students will work with our wonderful faculty in private lessons, masterclass, orchestra, seminars, guided practice and more.
This year, we have students and faculty joining us from around the country. It’s going to be an inspiring week for all. Join us! If you have any questions, please be in touch.
- Dr. Cortney Baker (Program coordinator)
Cortney Combs Baker, a native of Athens, GA, began violin at age three in the UGA Pre-College Suzuki program. Her degrees include a BMusEd degree - Furman University (’95), a MM (’97) and DMA (’02) - University of Texas at Austin. From 1995-2002, she taught in the UT String Project, including serving as the Assistant Director, overseeing the program scheduling and performing general administrative duties. Dr. Baker has taught at the Furman University Band and Orchestra Camp (1995-2008), the Greater Washington Suzuki Institute (2005-present), and various regional workshops. From 2002-2007, she co-directed the Sunshine Suzuki Strings in Davie, FL and served on the board of the Suzuki Association of South Florida, where she co-led weekend workshops. From 2009-2013, Dr. Baker served as Assistant Director of the South Carolina Suzuki Institute in Greenville SC, and taught technique, repertoire and master classes. She completed her Level 1 training in Music Mind Games in 2016 and has since enjoyed playing music games with both teachers and students in the Raleigh, NC area. Dr. Baker has a violin/viola studio, Pineland Suzuki Strings, in Cary, NC, of 26+ students who meet weekly for individual lessons and monthly for Suzuki group classes. She is the second violinist in the Triangle String Quartet. Additionally, she perform in the North Carolina Opera Orchestra (Raleigh, NC) as well as other ensembles in the Triangle area.
Message to participants:
Since I was a young child, I have been shaped by Dr. Suzuki’s vision that All Children Can. First, as a child benefiting from the encouragement of the adults around me, and now as an educator, passionate about helping each child discover their unique musical journey.
I am looking forward to sharing a week of music making and learning with each of you and the faculty at the Institute in Louisville this June!
- Kirsten Marshall
Kirsten Marshall is a registered teacher trainer with the Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA). She deeply believes every child can learn to play music if placed in the right environment. She enjoys sharing both humor and knowledge about working with children to other professional violin teachers. Ms. Marshall is teaching the complete cycle of violin books online for the University of Louisville KY. Additional teacher training includes Ithaca, Hartt and Louisville Suzuki summer institutes. Ms. Marshall is violin faculty and director of the orchestral program at Ithaca (NY) Talent Education, a world-renowned Suzuki school. Her training in violin performance and Suzuki pedagogy (B.M., M.M.) was at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Michele Higa George. Ms. Marshall’s influential violin teachers include David Updegraff, James Stern and Anna Tringas. She also holds a B.S. in music education from Case Western Reserve University. In 2022-2023, Ms. Marshall served as Interim Music Director of the Cornell Chamber Orchestra.
Ms. Marshall is a core member of the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra (CCO) in Ithaca, New York. A passion for conducting led her and fellow CCO violinist Sarah Cummings to establish the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra Youth Orchestra (ccoYo) in the fall of 2017, a 53- member, full symphonic youth orchestra. Conducting the ccoYo, teaching children and teaching teachers are all part of seeking what is possible in our children’s future, and bringing Dr. Suzuki’s vision of every child can to life.
Message to participants:
The University of Louisville's Suzuki Summer Institute is special. We help every young musician achieve their highest goals during a week of intensive classes and concerts, balanced by plenty of laughter and fun. Please join us June 8-13, 2025, to make friends and play great music in Kentucky!
- Dr. Vincent Phelan
Dr. Vincent Phelan is co director, along with his wife Elizabeth, of Corryville Suzuki Project, a non profit music education program that offers violin and viola instruction to children from Greater Cincinnati, Indiana and Northern Kentucky. Vince has been a clinician and parent education speaker at several Suzuki summer institutes and workshops throughout Ohio, Kentucky and Louisiana.
Vince received the Studio Teacher of the Year award from the Ohio String Teachers Association in 2014. Vince holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music (BM) and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (MM, DMA). In addition to teaching, Vince is Concertmaster of the Butler Philharmonic and the Southwest Ohio Philharmonic Orchestras and has appeared as violin soloist with the Middletown Symphony, the Blue Ash/Montgomery Symphony and the Clermont Philharmonic Orchestra.
Vince enjoys performing a wide variety of musical styles, including bluegrass and the music from The Great American Songbook, the popular music of the '40's, '50's and '60's.
- Dr. Terry Durbin
Dr. Timothy (Terry) Durbin’s unique brand of teaching excellence makes him one of the most sought-after clinicians/conductors throughout the world. With infectious enthusiasm and inspired musicianship, he brings smiles and laughter to students throughout the United States and around the world. His dynamic teaching career includes over 1100 workshops and institutes! His performance and teaching career stretch across the United States and Canada into Bermuda, Germany, Italy, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore, and he has recorded two CDs, including the complete chamber music of Marcel Dupre for the Naxos label. He has been appointed principal conductor of the Cave Run Symphony Orchestra beginning with the 2016 season. He has directed the South Dakota and Montana All State Orchestras. He is the holder of the American Suzuki Institute Suzuki Chair Award for 2013. Terry Durbin is also an accomplished composer and notable arranger.Dr. Durbin holds a DMA in orchestral conducting from Claremont Graduate University in Los Angeles, California, a Masters in violin performance from the University of Illinois, and an undergraduate degree in violin performance from the University of Alabama. He has held university positions at Transylvania University, Morehead State University, Azusa Pacific University, the University of Louisville and the University of Oregon. He is a registered teacher trainer with the Suzuki Association of the Americas.
Terry maintains a private studio in Louisville, Kentucky. He has three children, two grandchildren and one great granddaughter. He believes in the magic of music’s power to enrich our lives.
Message to participants:
Music is something all humans share. There is no in group and out group. Everyone experiences music in the same way.
Music teaches us to express our humanity and emotions, share that with others, respect others and create community. It is an invaluable part of every child’s education.
- Hiroko Driver Lippman
- Maria Mastropaolo
Maria Mastropaolo was born in Louisville, KY. At the age of 3 she began violin in the Suzuki Method. She received a bachelor’s degree in performance from the University of Evansville in 1997. Maria has been on faculty at the University of Evansville in their Suzuki Violin Program, under the direction of Carol Dallinger, since 1997. Maria is trained and registered in Suzuki Violin Units 1-10, Violin Practicum, ECC, SPA, Levels 1, 2, & 3 of Suzuki Early Childhood Education, plus additional supplemental courses. In 2011 she was one of the first Suzuki teachers in the nation to receive the Certificate of Achievement from the Suzuki Association of the Americas. Maria has given lectures on the aspects of the Suzuki method and teaching for different conferences, including the SAA’s Parents as Partners conference. She served on the board for the Suzuki Association of Indiana as Treasurer from 2016-2023, and also directs the UE Suzuki Program’s annual workshop. She had been on faculty at the UofL Suzuki Institute for many years until Covid hit. She is excited to be teaching at the institute again. Besides teaching, Maria plays in the first violin section of the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra (member since 1993), loves to cook, and is a huge fan of the dog that can do anything…Snoopy!. She lives in Evansville, IN with her Suzuki supporting husband, their music appreciating (sometimes howling) dachshund Chester, and their Suzuki violin playing 13-year-old son.
Message to participants:
I have the unique perspective of have been every point of the Suzuki Triangle. I grew up in the Suzuki Method (Student). I teach the Suzuki Method (Teacher). I have a son in the Suzuki Method (Parent). This allows me to really experience and understand every part of it personally. I love this method because I see what it has done for me in my life, my students’, and my son’s as well. Some examples of the benefits of Suzuki would be memory development, experience performing in front of people, work ethic (having to do something everyday), determination (sticking with something even when it gets difficult), and self esteem, to name a few. What I love is that these can be used in everyday life and in any career, not just music. Suzuki also gives you a unique connection with others in the method. I still have friends that I met in Suzuki. Now that I have taught for many years, I see a student that I started at 3 grow up and become an amazing person. I wholeheartedly believe that this method had something to do with that. My message to you would be to stick with it, through the ups and downs, because I have seen the outcome. I can tell you from personal experience…it is well worth it.
- Julia Cash
Violinist Julia Cash recently returned to Louisville after a vibrant career performing across New England and Europe. She has held leadership roles with ensembles such as the Louisville Orchestra, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, where she was praised for her expressive tone and dynamic stage presence.
Julia is also a passionate educator, currently on faculty at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School and director of Point Counter Point Chamber Music Camp in Vermont. She has taught at institutions including Harvard and Boston College, and is known for her warm, encouraging teaching style.
In Louisville, she founded Music for a Purpose, a concert series that brings world-class chamber music to the city while supporting local charities. She lives in Crescent Hill with her husband and three daughters, and continues to perform in both Louisville and Boston.
Julia is thrilled to join the University of Louisville Suzuki String Institute and work with the next generation of young string players.
Message to students:
I look forward to working with all of the young music lovers who will be at the institute this summer. Building your skills in music will help you with every aspect of your life and will be a source of lifelong joy. No matter your level or background we will all grow together and I look forward to this week together very much! I'm especially excited to work with all young string students from the Kentuckiana area and those who come here to study as I was once one myself!
Viola:
- Dana Meyer
Dana Meyer, founder and Artistic Director of Music City Strings, is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music and has been passionate about music education for more than 40 years. Her dream was to create a program that would provide children with the means to become confident, sensitive and beautiful artists. Music City Strings was the result of this dream. An international competition-winning group, Music City Strings has toured Europe, China, Canada, Croatia and the US. The group has performed over 30 concerts with Grammy-Award winning artists Vince Gill, Amy Grant, and Michael W. Smith and has become a highly sought-after performing troupe. In addition to her role as Artistic Director of Music City Strings, Mrs. Meyer has a robust private studio in Franklin, Tennessee.Mrs. Meyer is currently on the faculty of the Suzuki String Institute at the University of Louisville in Kentucky and has held numerous prestigious faculty positions and posts in such institutions as the Greater Washington Suzuki Institute, the Suzuki Institute at PhoenixPhest! in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the South Carolina Suzuki Institute at Furman University, the Fine Arts Student Academy in Nashville, New World School of the Arts (Miami), Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina, Wintergreen Performance Academy, Dillard High School of Performing Arts, the Middle Tennessee State University Governor’s School of Music, and Tucson Chamber Music in the Mountains in Tucson, Arizona. She has also been President of the Suzuki Association of South Florida, President of the Middle Tennessee Suzuki Association, and was awarded teacher of the year by the Nashville Area Music Teachers Association. Mrs. Meyer is currently Auditions Coordinator for the Strings Division of the Nashville Area Music Teachers Association.
Message to participants:
- Christia Chambers
Christia Chambers made her orchestral debut at Carnegie Hall in 2008. A graduate with honors in Viola Performance at the University of Michigan, Mrs. Chambers received her Master’s Degree in Music Education from the University of Akron with honors as well. She is the recipient of numerous competition awards and scholarships. Besides being a grand prize winner of the prestigious Tuesday Musical Scholarship Performance Competition, she was awarded the Arden J. Yockey Scholarship for Strings, the Winifred Collins Scholarship for Music Education and was a James B. Angell Scholar. A lifelong musician, beginning violin at the age of four, Mrs. Chambers is passionate about music education. She has dedicated herself to the pursuit of serious string pedagogy and has been a violin instructor for over 10 years. In addition to her large studio of students in Music City Strings Academy, Mrs. Chambers has also been a workshop clinician for the Suzuki Talent Education Program - Birmingham in Birmingham, Alabama and a faculty member of the South Carolina Suzuki Institute at the University of South Carolina in Aiken, South Carolina. She has been an active member of the Nashville Area Music Teachers Association since 2016 where her students regularly participate in the state and local performance auditions. Mrs. Chambers has had three category winners in the Young Artist Achievement Awards competition and is currently the chair for the annual Fall Fest event.Message to participants:
I look forward to a week of violin immersion. It's always special spending a week with people who enjoy making music.
Some of my fondest music memories growing up were spending a few weeks with people who shared the same love as I did for classical music.
Cello:
- Wayne Krigger (cello, music & movement)
Wayne Krigger began playing cello at the age of 13 in the Louisville Public Schools. Two years later, he was teaching cello and directing ensembles in summer programs for inner-city youth under the mentorship of Virginia Schneider, principal violist of the Louisville Orchestra, who was instrumental in the introduction of the Suzuki method to Louisville. Wayne continued teaching cello in after-school programs throughout high school. Those few years of teaching and playing made it clear to Wayne that this would be his passion in life.
Wayne received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in cello performance from the University of Louisville and, in 1983, joined the university as a teacher in the Preparatory Department. He also began teaching fitness, dance, and tennis in the Health, Physical Education and Sports Studies Department. After 13 years in the HPESS Department, he left to devote more time to teaching and performing. He began traveling as a guest clinician to other preparatory programs in the country to teach cello, and to coach and conduct ensembles. Locally, Wayne has conducted the Governor’s Scholar Orchestra and the All County Orchestra for Middle Schools in Kentucky. When traveling, Wayne observed that many children did not seem to be connected in body, mind and spirit with their music so he developed a creative movement program. This program engages the body’s large muscle groups and voice while still maintaining the student’s individuality by using music from the early Suzuki repertoire and supplementing with music from other venues and cultures.
Wayne is a past member of the Louisville Orchestra. Currently, and is a member the Highland Chamber Players, which is an extremely popular group in the Louisville area. Wayne is one of the original and founding member of the Highland Chamber Players, which was formed in 1982. The HCP plays over 150 weddings yearly as well as many other events. They have also provided educational concerts for children in the public schools. Individually, Wayne took great joy in volunteering at Kennedy Montessori School from 1993 until 2020 intoducing and teaching violin to students on a weekly basis.
Wayne’s classical cello training was done under the guidance of Guierllmo Helguera, Susannah Onwood, Nella Hunkins and Paul York. His Suzuki cello training was done under the guidance Tanya Carey, Nancy Hair, Carol Tarr, Nell Novak, Rick Mooney and Jean Dexter. Wayne is a proud father of two beautiful adult children: Jonathan and Kayla.
- Cecelia Swanson (cello, program coordinator)
Cecelia Swanson is a dedicated Suzuki cello teacher, performer, and Program Coordinator for the String Preparatory Center at the University of Louisville. She holds a Master’s degree in Cello Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a Bachelor’s in Cello Performance from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Cecelia has extensive experience teaching young musicians and adult beginners, having worked with students at her home studio, The Rock Stop, Doo Wop Shop, Aurora School of Music, the Oberlin Community Music School, The Rainey Institute, and Mozart in the Knobs festival. Her teaching focuses on building confidence through a strong foundation, fostering joy in music-making, and helping students find their unique voice.
In addition to teaching, she is an active performer, having played with the Louisville Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic, and chamber ensembles across the country. She is also a founding member of Quattro Voce, a local string quartet committed to bringing free, high-quality performances to the Louisville community.
Outside of music, Cecelia enjoys a good matcha latte, building LEGO, caring for her plants, and spending time with her cat, Bert.
Orchestra:
- Michele Barbosa
Michele was born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil and holds a Bachelor of Music Performance in violin and music education from the University of Kentucky and a Masters degree in Music Education from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. Michele has performed as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral musician across North America, South America and Europe. In Brazil, Michele was an active orchestra musician in the main orchestras of Sao Paulo, including the Experimental Repertoire Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Michele participated in acclaimed international festivals of Brazil, such as Campos do Jordao International Festival and Santa Catarina International Festival, and performed in several venues throughout the Czech Republic and Italy. Michele is the Director of Orchestras at the Youth Performing Arts School, holds a private teaching studio, and regularly performs with the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra and in chamber groups around Louisville, KY. During her free time, she shares her love for cooking, hosting dinner parties with her husband, friends, and even with her 17-year old cat, Elly.
Message to participants:
I am so excited to join the UofL Suzuki Summer String Institute this year! I am eager to meet more members of the beautiful musical community we have in Louisville, and to understand each other's musical backgrounds and interests. I hope that we can all together nurture the love for music-making not only during the summer, but also carry it on in our future musical endeavors!