Master of Music (Boston University)
Bachelor of Arts (Brandeis University)
Zoe Fong is a M.M. graduate of Boston University School of Music and B.A. graduate of Brandeis University, where she studied music education and music composition respectively. She is a viola, violin, and ukulele player and has performed (primarily as a violist) in Canada, the United States, Austria, Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and the Philippines. As a composition student at Brandeis, she focused on film scoring and minored in film studies, and additionally went abroad to Vienna, Austria for one semester to focus on viola performance. She loves musical theatre as well and has experience as a music director, conductor, performer, pit orchestra musician, and producer in various community and university productions.
While Zoe has found joy in many musical areas, she has found her true calling in music education. She has taught a range of ages and musical subjects including preschool music, elementary chorus, band, strings, and general music, middle school jazz band and strings, high school strings, chorus, and music theory, and private viola, violin, and composition lessons. There is nothing she loves more than sharing her passion for music and helping her students find their own passion and artistic voice.
Get to know Zoe…Beyond the Bio!
Hobbies: Teaching myself new instruments, dancing, reading
Musical influences: Kim Kashkashian, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Danny Elfman
Favourite food: Dumplings
Least favourite food: Broccoli
Favorite music: A little of everything!
Favourite song: Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
Favourite movie: Ladybird
Favourite movie music: Edward Scissorhands – Danny Elfman
Favourite musical theatre/opera: Les Miserables, Hadestown, and Hamilton
Best quote from your teacher: “Don’t leave your baggage at the door. Bring it in and let’s make music with it.”
Favourite quote: “This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.” – Leonard Bernstein
Favourite book: The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon…and also Harry Potter by JK Rowling
Latest Homework from Zoe
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Weekly Homework Post – May 7th, 2020
I hope everyone is staying well and healthy! Great job this week!
Hendry – great job playing the last 2 lines of Disillusion! It’s a difficult piece but I appreciate your enthusiasm and willingness to learn.
– Reminder: Try to set up your iPad and viola before class starts.
– Recommended practice time: 15-20 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: D Major scale (2-3 and 1-2 hand positions), Long Long Ago (listen and then play, work on even short-short rhythms and long notes), Allegro (listen and then play, work on short bouncy notes vs. long dolce notes), Question (listen and then play, first few lines), and Disillusion (listen and then play, last 2 lines).
Olivia – I appreciated hearing about the different kinds of TV and movie music you like! I’ll do my best to find Grease and Mamma Mia music, with Harry Potter and Star Wars as backup.
– Reminder: Try to set up your laptop music and violin before class starts.
– Recommended practice time: usually 30 min/day, but for now, try to set small achievable goals like we discussed
– Practice: All A scales (major, minors) 2 octaves, musictheory.net notation exercise and playing, and Judas Maccabeas. In Judas Maccabeas, try to remember what hand positions you need (1-2, 2-3, 3-4, open, or spock) to help your intonation, and also try to play the whole piece – the last few lines are the same as the first so even though we haven’t looked at it together, you should be able to play it!
Thank you and happy playing!
