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 – January 26/27, 2022
Jaron – great job with your 3-2-1-0 intonation in your scales!
– 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), Allegretto (practice playing through whole piece without stopping or slowing down, and making accents more obvious), and Andantino (first two lines, play through slowly and get familiar with the notes).
Olivia
– Reminder: if you have music from chamber strings you want to work on in our lessons, remember to scan them or bring them in-person!
– 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), Go the Distance (remember 3 sharps in A Major and practice shifts), and see if there’s anything you want to add to your English composition and Zero to Hero.
Amaia – missed you again today! Remember to keep practicing your scales and Long Long Ago.
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), Gavotte (try not to slow down at the end of phrases, and watch out for intonation and increasing the tempo in the middle section).
Grace – congratulations on finishing Judas Maccabeas!
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: 2-octave Major scales (keep close eye on spacing for shifts in higher positions), 2-octave minor scales (A minor natural, harmonic, melodic), and Musette (focus on middle section, especially the slurs and bowings – if you’re having trouble with those, try doing down-up separate bows first before adding the slurs back in).
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 paying close attention to intonation, especially for G Major), D minor scale (1 octave, natural, melodic, harmonic – try to remember differences between each scale, especially natural), Witches Dance (play through second half slowly and get used to the notes), and Catharsis (play with consistent tempo and pay attention to counting the rests).
Thank you, stay safe, and happy playing!
