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 – October 20/21, 2021
Jaron
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week (and if you find yourself busy with homework or other commitments…even just a few minutes in a day is better than nothing!)
– Practice: G, D, and A Major scales (doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing, and make sure to not stretch your fingers too much when you’re going down the scale), Perpetual Motion (prepare for final play-through next week, practice playing without stopping and with consistent tempo), and Allegretto (play D Major scale before playing the piece, and practice string crossings and fingerings on D string).
Olivia – good luck with your playing test and performance!
– Reminder: let me know if you want anymore fingerings written down!
– 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, focus especially on E Major shift to fourth position and B-flat Major to support Danse Macabre), Danse Macabre (third position shifts and chromatic section, plus watch out for accidentals), and see if there’s anything you’d like to add to our Zero to Hero arrangement!
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, plus try to stretch fingers a little bit more between first and second fingers), O Come Little Children (continue practicing playing through the piece with rhythms and without stopping or slowing down), and May Song (first line, play through with dotted rhythms).
Preet – I missed you today, good luck with your exam! Continue practicing the same things as last week – G, D, and A Major scales, Twinkle theme and variations A and C, and Lightly Row.
Grace – hope you’re having fun with Pierogi II, and congratulations on finishing The Happy Farmer!
– Recommended practice time: 20 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: 2 octave Major scales (with focus on shifting with your whole hand and not just your fingers for G and D Major, and differentiating between B-flat and B Major fingerings, which are very similar), and Gavotte (use your elbow and momentum for grace note phrases, and if it helps, remove the bowings and slurs in the second section and master the notes and rhythms first, before adding them 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, practice shift to third position for G Major), D minor scale (1 octave, natural minor, compare the fingerings with this minor scale to D Major, how are they different?), Waltz (practice playing smooth legato phrases, and watch out for 3-3 fingering pattern at the end of the first line), and Catharsis (keep watching out for key signature changes between E-flat and D Major, and master notes of m. 110 section first before adding in the rhythms).
Thank you, stay safe, and happy playing!
