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 1/2, 2021
We are in the final stretch until winter break! I know it can be a busy time of the year but I believe in you all!
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 our fingers are not stretched too high and that there is less space in between them), and Allegretto (work on short-short-long rhythm patterns and add in accents to notes one at a time).
Olivia – I hope you feel better soon and are on the mend!
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: review 2-octave Major and minor scales (try to memorise fingerings for each scale, and focus on newer scales E and F Major with the higher shifts), and see if there’s anything you want to add to our Zero to Hero arrangement. Since we weren’t entirely satisfied with the ‘every vase’ phrase, you can experiment on your own to see how we can change it. Play around with harmonies, half note and quarter note ostinatos, and playing in unison, and feel free to play both parts on your violin to get a feel for the music!
Amaia
– 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 make sure there is a little more space in between your first and second fingers), and May Song (practice dotted rhythms 1.5 + 0.5 in beginning and ending lines, and see if you can add in the dynamics loud and soft playing into your playing! To make it loud you should add more weight to your bow and use more of your bow, and to make it soft, you should add less weight to your bow and use less of your bow).
Thea – good luck with your exams and assignments!
– Reminder: call the office and let them know you will be on Zoom for our lesson in 2 weeks
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days /week
– Practice: G, D, and A Major scales (1 octave), G Major scale (2 octaves, while paying attention to your posture and bow hold, in front of a mirror if possible), Gavotte (watch out for rhythms and not slowing down in the ‘heavier’ section, as well as the stretched fourth finger and other various accidentals in the eighth-note middle section), and Concerning Hobbits (first two lines and look ahead if you’d like – we’ll make sure to work more on this next time!).
Grace – I hope you feel better soon!
– Recommended practice time: 20 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: 2-octave Major scales (with focus on F Major and making sure we do not go too sharp into F#, try practicing with an F drone in the background to keep the intonation), and Gavotte (experiment more with the shorter bows for the eighth notes in the first section, and try to stay consistent with either 4th finger or open string for the E’s in the second section).
Hendry – congratulations on finishing Bouree!
– 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 make sure to pay attention to intonation and really listen while you play), D minor scale (1 octave, natural, harmonic, melodic, and try to remember the difference between harmonic, 7th note raised, and melodic, 6th and 7th note raised going up and coming back down to its usual notes going down the scale), The Two Grenadiers (first section, play B-flat Major 1 octave before playing, and play through slowly and get familiar with the notes), and Catharsis (watch out for A# – don’t play open A string and make sure to play low first finger on A string, and practice playing first couple of lines with consistent tempo to prepare for playing together as a duet).
Thank you, stay safe, and happy playing!
