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 19/20, 2022
I hope everyone had a good couple of snow days and is having a smooth transition back to in-person school!
Jaron
– Reminder: get your camera fixed before our next lesson
– 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 with a consistent tempo and without stopping, and keep up the accents throughout the whole piece), and Andantino (first line – play through slowly and get familiar with the notes).
Olivia
– Reminder: if you want to send me a recording, make sure to do it before 10 pm Monday night please!
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: 2-octave Major and minor scales (try to memorise fingering pattern for each scale), Mamma Mia (make sure dynamics are obvious and watch out for third finger D so that it’s not too flat), and Go the Distance (make sure syncopated rhythms are uneven long-short and differentiated from the even short-short rhythms).
Amaia – I missed you again today, keep on practicing your scales and Long Long Ago!
Grace
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: 2-octave Major scales (watch out for finger spacing in high positions for E Major and F Major), 2-octave minor scales (A minor natural and harmonic), Judas Maccabeas (focus on saving the bow in the fourth line and having syncopated long-short rhythm at the end), and Musette (play through slowly and get familiar with the notes).
Hendry – congratulations on finishing Two Grenadiers!
– 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 and listening closely for intonation), D minor scale (1 octave, natural, harmonic, melodic), Witches Dance (first four lines – play through slowly and get familiar with the notes), and Catharsis (watch out for high third finger in D Major sections and play through with consistent tempo in preparation for duet playing).
Thank you, stay safe, and happy playing!
