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 – May 19/20, 2021
One more month of school to go!! I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful warm weather we’re having.
Jaron
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, D, and A Major scales (doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing), Allegro (try not to slow down while using long bows in the third line), and Perpetual Motion (play through with consistent tempo, and practice pinky fourth finger 0-1-2-3-4-3-2-1-0 on each string).
Olivia
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: review 2-octave Major and minor scales (with focus on B and B-flat Major scale, take note of which one has low ones), Mirror duet (prepare for full play-through duet and focus on second half of second section even rhythms), and Go the Distance (shifting sections and rhythms at the end).
Amaia – I hope your foot feels better soon!
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, D, and A Major scales (doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing, and make sure your bow is in the middle of the bridge and fingerboard), Song of the Wind (practice full run-through and remember 3 B’s, not 4, at the end!), and Go Tell Aunt Rhody (practice beginning and look ahead if you wish!).
Crosby
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: 0-1-2-3-2-1-0 fingering patterns on each string (warm-up), G, D, and A Major scales (doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing, and make sure to keep your fingers down on your bow instead of lifting them up), Twinkle (theme and variations A, C,D, and E – keep on practicing C and D and make sure there’s a difference between the even 1-2-3 and the long-short-short), and Lightly Row (watch out for the long half notes!).
Hendry – congratulations on finishing Starting the Case!
– Recommended practice time: 20 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: C, E-flat Major, D, and F Major scales (2 octaves, doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing, and focus on our 2 new scales), Happy Farmer (watch out for syncopated rhythms, make sure dotted quarter notes are a bit longer), and Kishi Ou no Hokori (play through slowly and get familiar with the notes).
Grace – congratulations on finishing Perpetual Motion!
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, D, and A Major scales (doing our usual posture and bow hold check each time before playing), Allegretto (using the pinky finger for A and keeping the accents consistent), and Andantino (once you get more comfortable, try using the pinky finger for A).
Thank you, stay safe, and happy playing!
