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 – July 21, 2021
Grace
– Recommended practice time: 20 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, A, and C Major scales (2 octaves, with focus on C Major scale and make sure your starting third finger is not too sharp), Minuet 1 (make sure your fourth finger isn’t pulling your second finger up, and prepare for final play-through next week), and Minuet 2 (focus on slurs in the second half, making sure they are smooth and that you’re not running out of bow).
Olivia
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: review 2-octave Major and minor scales (try to memorise fingering patterns for all scales), Mirror duet (upside down part, and see if you can play it with the TSO YouTube video), Go the Distance (shifting areas and rhythms), and see if there’s anything you want to add to our Zero to Hero arrangement!
Hendry
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: C, D, E-flat, and F Major scales (2 octaves, make sure to do our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing), Judas Maccabeas (prepare for final play-through next time with dynamics), Kishi o nou Hokori (hold out long notes for right amount of beats) and Question (play through with consistent tempo and focus on notes in second half).
Thank you, stay safe, and happy playing!
