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 – February 23/24, 2022
I hope everyone had a great long weekend! Only a few weeks until March break!
Jaron
– 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), and Andantino (remember to use the accent on the half notes and differentiate between 3-2-1-0 on A and D strings).
Olivia
– 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, this week focusing on B-flat Major and E Major), Go the Distance (remember high third finger for C# and practice shift to fifth position), and see if there’s anything you want to add to our Zero to Hero arrangement).
Amaia – I was so happy to see you again!
– Reminder: your violin is very out of tune, most likely due to the cold weather and taking a break from playing for the last few weeks, so whenever you can, please take your violin to a music shop to get it 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 through and get familiar with the notes again, and watch out for long short-short rhythms and holding out half notes for two beats).
Grace – good luck with the essays!
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: 2-octave Major and minor scales (practice C Major in second position and shifts to fourth and fifth position in E and F Major), and Musette (watch out for weight on the bow so that it sounds less scratchy and the slurs are smoother).
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 especially in the second octave in G Major), D minor scale (2 octaves natural and harmonic, 1 octave melodic), Witches Dance (prepare for final play-through next time, make sure high third and fourth finger are in tune, and watch out for bowing down-down at the end), and Catharsis (play through with consistent tempo to prepare for playing together, with focus on the second section and sixteenth notes).
Thank you, stay safe, and happy playing!
