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 – September 8/9, 2021
Welcome back to the school year!! I hope everyone had a wonderful summer!
Jaron – I really appreciate that you practiced over the summer!
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: window washer bow exercises (keep pinky and thumb curved), G, D, and A Major scales (doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing, and make sure second and third fingers are squeezed together), and Perpetual Motion (play through slowly and get familiar with the notes again).
Olivia – good luck with your first day of strings class!
– Reminder: if you have school music you want to work on together, make sure you scan and upload it to the Google drive
– 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), Go the Distance (ending section bowings), Mirror duet (re-familiarise yourself with the first half and practice slurs in m. 5 and 18), and think of anything you may want to add to our Zero to Hero arrangement.
Amaia – I missed you today! Hopefully I’ll see you next week!
Preet – welcome to ABC, we are so happy to have you!
– Reminder: call the office to formally request changing your lesson time to an earlier time, purchase shoulder rest and Suzuki Violin Book 1, and get violin tuned at Long & McQuade
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: window washer bow exercises (keep your bow hold steady as you go through the exercises, for a few minutes and you can also do this with a pencil), review posture and bow hold (there are pictures in the starter packet in case you need a reminder), pluck and bow all open strings – just experiment, have fun, and get used to the instrument!
Grace
– Reminder: purchase Suzuki Violin Book 2 sometime soon
– Recommended practice time: 20 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, A, B-flat, and C Major scales (2 octaves, if it helps and you can find a tuner app with a drone, have the tonic played while you play the whole scale), Minuet 3 (watch out for intonation with the third finger and practice dynamics and crescnedo), and Happy Farmer (make sure up bows are started in the lower part of the bow).
Hendry – I hope you’re enjoying your new school!
– Reminder: set a reminder on your phone for your new lesson time, and fix the camera settings on your new camera
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: C, D, E-flat, and F Major scales (2 octaves, doing our usual bow and posture check each time before playing, and singing “do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do”in your head to make sure the notes are in tune), Hunter’s Chorus (make sure fourth finger is stretching high enough), and Catharsis (listen to music before playing as it will help with the rhythms).
Thank you, stay safe, and happy playing!
