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 14, 2021
I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer so far!
Grace
– Recommended practice time: 20 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, A, and C Major scales (2 octaves, particularly focus on A and C Major scales, including fingerings), Minuet 1 (watch out for low second finger in the second half, and just play through and get more comfortable with intonation before trying with a metronome), and Minuet 2 (make sure D-sharp in second half is high enough with the third finger, and try to have smoother bowing for the slurs in the third-to-last line).
Olivia
– Reminder: your next two lessons are starting 15 minutes earlier
– 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, and particularly focus on B-flat and B Major scales), Mirror duet (upside down part, play through slowly and get familiar with similar notes and rhythms), and Go the Distance (focus on the second half, especially with the lower second finger when the key shifts into C Major).
Hendry
– Recommended practice time: 20 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: C, D, E-flat, and F Major scales (2 octaves, and do your usual posture check each time before playing), Judas Maccabeas (make sure to hold out half notes and dotted quarter notes to full length), Kishi Ou no Hokori (keep watching out for that low first finger for B-flat and E-flat), and Question (practice counting the repeats at the beginning and not elongating the first note of each repeated section).
Thank you, stay safe, and happy playing!
