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 – December 15/16, 2021
If you have a make-up lesson scheduled next week, I’ll see you one more time in 2021, and if you do not, I hope you have a wonderful winter break!! I’ll see you all in the first week of January!
Jaron – awesome job with incorporating the accents into Allegretto today!
– 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 our fingers are not stretched too high, although much improved from last time so great work!), and Allegretto (keep up the accents throughout the whole piece and not just at the beginning, and make sure your left hand does not slowly slide up your violin’s neck because it will make all your notes sharp).
Olivia – so glad you are feeling better and are on the mend, good luck with your last assignments and tests!
– Reminder: if there is new music you want to work on from school, make sure to bring it to our next lesson
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: review 2-octave Major and minor scales (try to memorise fingering patterns for each scale, with focus on E and F Major shifts to fourth and fifth position respectively), Go the Distance or Mamma Mia (whichever you decide for your solo piece), Avatar State (review song so we can duet together next time), and see if there’s anything you want to add to our Zero to Hero arrangement.
Amaia – amazing work sight-reading Long Long Ago today!
– 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 there’s a little more space between your first and second fingers), May Song (practice loud and soft playing and contrast, especially in the second line), and Long Long Ago (if you have time – play through slowly and get familiar with the notes).
Thea – hope you have a great time at home for the holidays!
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, D, and A Major scales (1 octave for all and then 2 octaves for G, doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing), Concerning Hobbits (play sixteenth notes a little faster in the first two lines, and for the next few lines, play through notes slowly without rhythms and slurs, and then add those in once you are more familiar, and try to listen to the song many times to get a feel for the rhythms).
Grace – good luck with your last 3 exams and hope you get to catch up on some sleep!
– Recommended practice time: 20 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: 2-octave Major scales (watch out for intonation and hand position as you tend to go sharp, especially when you shift to higher positions), and Gavotte (experiment more with shorter bowing, watch out for slurs in second section, and keep an ear out for intonation – another tendency to go sharp!).
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), D minor scale (1 octave – natural, melodic, harmonic, review the differences between the minor scales), Two Grenadiers (play B-flat Major 1 octave before playing first section and watch out for low first fingers for B-flat and E-flat, and accidentals F#), and Catharsis (make sure to aim higher during shift at the end and remember high third finger for C# on G string whenever the key signature is in D Major).
Thank you, stay safe, and happy holidays!!
