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 11, 2021
I hope everyone is staying cool in this heat!
Grace – I hope your back feels better soon!
– Recommended practice time: 20 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: bow hold lifts and hand stretches, 2 octave Major scales (G, A, C, and B-flat Major – with focus on new scale B-flat Major, make sure to start with low second finger and third finger), Minuet 2 (work on string crossings and contrasting dynamics at the end), and Minuet 3 (pay attention to intonation and make sure third finger is not too sharp).
Olivia – I apologise once again for the miscommunication about our start time! We will start at 4:45 for the rest of our summer lessons.
– 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, continue to focus on B and B-flat Major and differentiating between the two), Mirror duet (play through slowly and re-familiarise yourself with the notes, and practice new chord), Go the Distance (watch out for intonation and making sure your hand does not slip up too far and make all the notes too sharp, but great work with shifting today!), and see if there’s anything you’d like to add to our Zero to Hero arrangement.
Hendry – great work with sight-reading Hunter’s Chorus today!
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: C, D, E-flat, and F Major scales (doing our usual bow hold and posture check each time before playing, and pay attention to intonation – make sure it sounds like do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do), Hunter’s Chorus (play through slowly and get familiar with the notes), and Catharsis (practice shifting high notes, and watch out for high third finger for C#, and low first finger for A# on A string).
Thank you, stay safe, and happy playing!
