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 – March 9/10, 2022
I hope everyone has a wonderful March break next week! Remember that we do not have lessons next week and will be resuming the week after. Additionally, I’ve attached the Google drive link at the bottom of this post for anybody who needs it and/or has lost their link.
Jaron – congratulations on finishing Andantino!
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, D, and A Major scales (1 octave, doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing), G Major scale (2 octaves, going up and down the scale, watch out for whether your hand is in a 2-3 or 1-2 finger pattern), and look ahead at Etude if you can!
Olivia – good luck with the play!
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: review 2-octave Major and minor scales (try to memorise fingering pattern for each scale, and focus on E Major fingering patterns for Spring and shift to fourth position), Go the Distance (review shifting sections and ending bowings), and Spring (first page, practice shift to second position and bowings for the babbling brook part).
Amaia
– Reminder: whenever you can, please try to get your violin tuned!
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, D, and A Major scales (doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing), and Long Long Ago (play with long short-short rhythms and hold out half notes for full two beats).
Isabella – nice work with reading music today!
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: review parts of violin and bow, practice holding violin under chin with and without hands, pluck all four open strings and make sure to keep your thumb on the corner of the fingerboard to anchor your hand while plucking with the index finger, and practice first three lines of the Violin Starter Packet.
Thea
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, D, and A Major scales (1 octave, doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing), G and A Major scales (2 octaves), Concerning Hobbits (watch out for rhythms and rests, and review shifts to higher positions), and Gavotte (try not to “linger” on some notes and practice middle section with slightly faster tempo).
Grace
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: 2-octave Major and minor scales (watch out for shifts and finger spacing in fourth and fifth position), Musette (keep watching out for weight on the bow to make the sound less scratchy, and using fourth finger in the phrases that call for it), and look ahead at the next song if you’d like!.
Hendry
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: C, D, E-flat, F, and G Major scales (2 octaves, doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing, and watching out for intonation on the A string for F Major and the higher third position octave in G Major), D minor scale (2 octaves: natural, harmonic, melodic), Gavotte (first page – play through second half slowly and get familiar with the notes, and watch out for accidentals), and Catharsis (practice playing with with consistent tempo and count the rests, and look ahead at viola 2 part if you’d like).
Google drive link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13-qNAAapmHO1gFC9jwNAEtvyxOe4O30t
Thank you, stay safe, and happy playing!
