Violin Faculty | Sii2020

Agnes Bilowitski, Violin (Germany)

Agnes Bilowitzki, born in 1977, received her first violin lessons from her father. After lessons with Atila Aydintan at the Academy of Music Hannover, she studied with Mechthild Böckheler in Heidelberg/ Mannheim, where, in addition to orchestral music, she successfully completed music education and school music studies. She continued her studies with Prof. Walter Forchert in Frankfurt. Master classes with Grigory Zhislin, Friedemann Eichhorn, Eckhard Fischer / Trio Opus 8 and others, numerous chamber music projects and engagement in various orchestras such as the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie rounded off her professional training. An internship in the Heidelberg Philharmonic Orchestra followed in 2003/2004. Agnes Bilowitzki is a member of the Augsburg
Philharmonic since autumn 2004, interrupted by an exchange with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in the 2007/2008 season.

Alicia Casey, Violin (USA)

Alicia Casey received her Bachelor of Music Performance and Pedagogy from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music in Australia where she was a student of Elizabeth Morgan and her Masters in Violin Performance from the University of Massachusetts Amherst where she was a student of Elizabeth Chang.

Alicia studied chamber music as part of the Graduate String Quartet program at UMass and was a recipient of the Lark Chamber Music Award in addition to winning the Concerto Competition with the University Orchestra. Alicia performed with members of the Lighthouse Chamber Players in Cape Cod and is a founding member of the Bahn Quartet. Alicia has performed with orchestras, quartets and as a soloist throughout the United States, Australia and Europe.

Alicia is currently Suzuki program coordinator and faculty member of the Suzuki program at the Upper Valley Music Center in Lebanon, NH, USA, where she has been teaching since 2010.

Alicia grew up as a Suzuki student starting at the age of 3 and has completed formal Suzuki teacher training with Allen Lieb, Jeffrey Cox, Roger Stieg, Kimberly Meier-Sims, Ed Kreitman, Mark Mutter, Teri Einfeldt, Nancy Lokken, Doris Preucil and Mark Bjork, and has registered training in all 10 units of the Suzuki violin repertoire. Alicia has been a guest clinician at the Suzuki Institute of Indonesia the Vermont Suzuki Violin workshop and the Green Mountain Suzuki Summer Institute.

Alicia currently lives in New Hampshire with her husband Ben daughter Elizabeth and son Jack.

Edward Van Ness, Violin (USA/Indonesia)

Edward Van Ness is a violinist, violist, conductor, writer and teacher. His violin studies were under Anthony Sant Ambrogio, close associate of Joseph Gingold and member of his quartet.

His undergraduate and graduate studies were completed at Wesleyan University, with advanced graduate work at Boston University, and conducting at Eastman School of Music. While in Madras India on a Fulbright grant for two and a half years, he conducted research on South Indian Classical Music, became a concert performer on the Karnatik Vina, and established the Madras Chamber Orchestra. He has taught at the Akademi Musik Indonesia, Universitas Sumatera Utara under the auspices of the Ford
Foundation and Universitas HKBP Nommensen where he established the music department in 1986.

He taught at Medan International School he was also head of the music and technology departments. He has been in an advisory capacity for many years to the Lembaga Musik Murni in Medan, now Sumatra Conservatoire.

He conducted the first full performance of an opera in Indonesia (Bastien und Bastienne by Mozart) in the 1970’s and is listed in the Indonesian Musical Dictionary as the conductor and artistic director of the first complete performances of Handel’s Messiah with Ensemble Nommensen and Promusika in 1987, as well as a joint concert with the National University of Singapore orchestra two years later.

In April 2005 he conducted the orchestra of the Ho Chi Min Conservatory Orchestra in Vietnam, as the first musician ever invited by that institution and the Vietnamese government. He was resident conductor of Nusantara Symphony Orchestra, leading the orchestra in many concerts including the tour to Japan for the Asia Orchestra Festival in October 2005 together with H. Yazaki.

Recently he conducted concerts by the Penang Sinfonietta in Penang and Medan.

Foo Say Ming, Violin (Singapore)

“…Director (re: mix) Foo at full flight, helming its virtuosic solo, is one of Singapore’s most exciting artists. One really feels his driving passion, and his charges responded with similar verve and ebullience for a spirited close. … ” (The Straits Times, 17 December 2012)

Say Ming has been featured as a soloist with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) on many occasions. He was featured as a soloist and director in a concert with the Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra performing Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" and the Singapore premier of Piazolla-Desyatnikov's "The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires". His performance of the “Butterfly Lovers Concerto” with the National University of Singapore Symphony Orchestra (NUSSO) on its tour to Scotland at the Aberdeen International Youth Festival (Scotland) in 2005 was described as:

"... never faltered in his interpretation, weaving through the dramatic score like a beautiful silken thread." (The Press And Journal, Aberdeen, Scotland, Aug 2005)

In 2011, he conducted the Singapore Lyric Opera (SLO) Orchestra “à la Johann Strauss”, assuming the roles of conductor, leader, concertmaster and violin soloist in SLO’s 2011 production of Lehar’s “The Merry Widow”.

Say Ming leads and directs re: mix, which is a unique chamber orchestra in Singapore. This ensemble boasts an eclectic repertoire ranging from John Adams to ABBA, Bach to Beatles, Mozart to movies, and Schoenberg to Salsa. re: mix has been responsible for the creation and championing of a host of uniquely Singaporean works for this genre through its collaborations with many of Singapore’s top composers and arrangers. Within its very short history since its inception, with its wide and daring repertoire together with its successful debut album “Introducing re: mix” (The Straits Times 2012 Album of the Year), re: mix’s unique voice has not only been heard by local audiences, it has also taken the ensemble to regional audiences in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Hong Kong.

Say Ming works closely with young musicians in the Singapore National Youth Orchestra and the NUS Symphony Orchestra in the capacity of a Tutor and Assistant Conductor. He is also the concertmaster of the Symphony Lyric Opera Orchestra.

Kian Chong, Violin (Malaysia/Hong Kong)

As a violinist, Kian has played regularly in Malaysia as well as abroad. Some highlights of his performance experience included L’Orchestra Giovanile Collegium Philharmonicum in Naples, Italy and multiple concerts for the Royalties of Malaysia and Cambodia. His musical ventures included many learning, teaching, and performing opportunities in many parts of Asia (China, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand) and Europe (Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland).

He graduated magna cum laude from the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver (Colorado, USA) with a Master’s degree in Music, where he studied violin performance under Prof. Mark Rush and Suzuki pedagogy under Prof. Kathleen Spring.

A passionate teacher with more than a decade of teaching experience, Kian had run his own studio and served as a faculty member of several music academies in Malaysia from 2005-2012, and in the Denver metro area upon his arrival in 2012. As a teacher, Kian often appears as a clinician at summer institutes; teaching repertoire classes, chamber classes, individual masterclasses and note reading/musicianship classes. Spring studio (now Primavera Place), Suzuki Strings of Denver, CO. USA, Suzuki Institute of Indonesia and Albyrd Violin Studio Suzuki Camp (Bangkok, Thailand) are among the institutes that he has been involved in.

In the summer of 2016, Kian relocated to the vibrant city of Hong Kong to serve a full time string faculty position at the Hong Kong Suzuki Music Institute. At the same time he teaches workshops in the Southeast Asia region. Apart from teaching, chamber and orchestral performances are a staple of Kian’s musical diet. When he is not busy teaching or performing, Kian savours tea, drinks coffee, runs, hikes or practises yoga.

Timothy Peters, Violin (USA/Malaysia)

Timothy Peters is in his sixth season with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, currently serving as the Principal 2nd Violin. He has performed as a titled guest with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including Principal 2nd Violin of the Dresden Philharmonic (Germany), Sub-Principal 2nd Violin of the BBC Philharmonic (Manchester, UK), Principal 2nd Violin of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and Guest Concertmaster of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra.

Additionally, he has performed as a guest player with the Houston Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, Houston Ballet, and Charleston Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared as Concertmaster with many of the USA’s leading festival orchestras, including the Spoleto USA Festival and the National Orchestral Institute. Timothy’s many solo performances include recital appearances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts in Houston, Texas, and an appearance as a soloist on Garrison Keillor’s popular radio show, “A Prairie Home Companion”.
His recent concerto appearances include performances with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and Maggini Ensemble (Houston, Texas). As a member of the Brutini String Quartet, Degas Quartet, and Young Eight Octet chamber ensembles, he has performed in many of the USA’s prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall and Tishman Hall in New York City, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. (on the 1699 “Ward” Stradivarius), the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, the Jewel Box Series in Chicago, and in residence at Seattle University, University of North Carolina-Greensboro, and University of North Carolina-Wilmington.

Dedicated to education, he has coached many young students in the Houston Youth Symphony and Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and was a featured presenter at the Suzuki Association of the Americas National Conference in 2010 and 2012 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Timothy enjoys working with students of all ages and ability levels, and believes that all students have the ability to learn violin.

Omporn Kowintha, Violin (Thailand)

Omporn Kowintha began her violin lessons with Prof. Choochart Pitaksakorn at the age of thirteen. She had participated with Thai Youth Orchestra and became its concertmaster during 1994-1996. In 1997, she gained her Bachelor’s Degree with Honors in Music Education from Chulalongkorn University. In 1998-1999, she received a scholarship from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, which enabled her to study with Michael Ma. In 2000, Omporn went to the U.S.A, and studied violin with Kathryn Lucktenberg and Fritz Gearhart at the University of Oregon. She also studied Suzuki Violin Pedagogy with Shelley Rich and was a violin instructor at the Suzuki Program of Community Music Institute at University of Oregon during the time she was there. Omporn received her Master’s Degree in Violin Performance and Pedagogy in 2003.

Playing both violin and viola, Omporn participates in many chamber music ensembles and orchestras in Thailand such as Glom Piano Quartet, Bangkok String Quartet, the Artist Ensemble of Bangkok, and Pro Musica Orchestra.

She is also one of the most sought-after violin instructor in Thailand. Omporn has founded the only Suzuki Studio in Thailand called “Albyrd Violin Studio” since 2008. Now, she is also the chairperson of Thailand Association for Talent Education.

Therese Wirakesuma, Violin (USA/Indonesia)

Teaching music is not my main purpose. I want to make good citizens. If children hear fine music from the day of their birth and learn to play it, they develop sensitivity, discipline and endurance. They get a beautiful heart.” (Shinichi Suzuki)

Therese Wirakesuma has lived and taught in Indonesia for over 30 years. Originally from the state of Montana in the United States, she comes from a large family that grew up making music together. She began her violin studies at 13 and after High School pursued a degree in Music Education, studying in Minnesota, Germany, and in 1983 graduating from Montana State University. She obtained a Master's Degree in Arts Education in 2006 from Deakin University Australia.

Mrs. Therese was the Strings and International Baccalaureate Music teacher at Sekolah Pelita Harapan in Lippo Village from 1994- 2014. She began her training in the Suzuki Method in 2009 and has taken many courses with Suzuki Association of Americas teacher trainers as well as Asia Region trainers, currently with Dr. Lan Ku Chen.

Mrs. Therese is the music director for Camerata Indonesia and Camerata Junior string orchestras in Lippo Village Tangerang consisting of Suzuki students, teachers and community members who enjoy frequent performances of a wide range of repertoire. She is chairman and lead violin
teacher for the Suzuki Music Association of Indonesia and is active teaching violin privately and in camps and programs throughout Indonesia.