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 12/13, 2022
I hope everyone is staying warm!!
Jaron
– 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 making sure you don’t stretch your fingers too much going down the scale 3-2-1-0), and Allegretto (practice playing through without stopping and making sure all accents are consistent).
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, and see if there are other scales at school you need to master before the end of the semester), Mamma Mia (make sure dynamics are noticeable and practice middle section rhythms), and Go the Distance (remember to stretch third finger for C# and G# and to have more uneven long-short rhythms rather than even ones).
Amaia – missed you today! Keep on 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), G Major scale (2 octaves, watch out for when your second finger is squeezed next to your first or third finger), Gavotte (practice with a faster tempo, especially the middle section), and Concerning Hobbits (listen to music to get better sense of the rhythms, and play through second section and get familiar with the notes).
Grace
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: 2-octave Major scales (especially shifts in E and F Major), 1-octave minor scales (A minor natural), Judas Maccabeas (with focus on keeping the up-up bowings separate yet smooth), and Musette (play through first line slowly and get familiar with the notes, and look ahead 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 listening for intonation and making sure it sounds like do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do), D minor scale (1 octave, memorise differences between natural, harmonic, melodic), Two Grenadiers (prepare for final play-through with dynamics, and make sure not to hold out half notes for more than 2 beats), and Catharsis (practice with steady tempo to prepare for playing together, and watch out for high 3 for C#).
Thank you, stay safe, and happy playing!
