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 – August 18, 2021
Hopefully everyone is staying cool from the heat and humidity this week! Just a reminder that next week will be your last week of summer lessons, we will have a break the week after, and then our school year will start!
Grace – congratulations on finishing Minuet 2! We ran out of time before we could go into your questions about tempo and accents, but I promise we will take a closer look next week :)
– Recommended practice time: 20 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, A, B-flat, and C Major scales (2 octaves, watch out for E-string fingering patterns for B-flat and C Major), Minuet 3 (look out for third finger intonation and bowings/slurs, and try to add in the dynamics), and Happy Farmer (play through slowly and get familiar with the notes).
Olivia
– Reminder: think about what kind of pieces you may want to play for the wedding
– 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), Mirror duet (first section with bowings and rhythms), Go the Distance (ending section – play without bowings and rhythms first, and once you master the notes, slowly add them in), and see if there’s anything you want to add to our Zero to Hero arrangement.
Hendry – hope everything is okay on your end and that you’re enjoying your trip!
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: C, D, E-flat, and F Major scales (2 octaves, doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing, and try to pay closer attention to intonation and make sure it sounds like do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do), Hunter’s Chorus (play through slowly and get familiar with both the notes and rhythms), and Catharsis (try to add in rhythms at the beginning, listen to music before playing).
Thank you, stay safe, and happy playing!



