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 – February 17/18, 2021
Jaron
– Reminder: if you can, please purchase Suzuki Violin Book 1
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, D, and A Major scale (doing a posture and bow hold check each time before playing, and make sure you squeeze your second and third fingers together!), O Come Little Children (we are so close to finishing – try to focus on starting each phrase with an up bow), and May Song (pay close attention to the dotted-quarter notes (1 and 1/2 beats long) in the first and third line).
Olivia
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: review 2-octave major and minor scales (especially those with shifting and try to memorise the fingering positions), Avatar State (focus on third-position shifting at the end, especially your fourth finger on A string), and Mirror duet (we didn’t have time for this today but keep on focusing on the second section and bowings).
Hendry
– Recommended practice time: 20 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: G, D, and C Major scales (1 octave), C Major scale (2 octaves – and remember to do your posture and bow hold check each time before playing), Minuet 1 (we’re finished with this in class for now but try to still practice this once in a while for the recording at the end of the school year, especially with dynamics!), Minuet 2 (slowly play through and learn the notes, if you feel comfortable), Question (we didn’t have time for this today but make sure to keep practicing, especially the middle part), and Starting the Case (practice E-flat major scale to get used to the fingering positions, and keep a look out for all the low-first fingers and high-third fingers).
Grace
– Reminder: if you can, please purchase Suzuki Violin Book 1
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: long bows down and up on open strings (and then apply to scales if you feel comfortable), G, D, and A Major scales (remember to do a posture and bow hold check each time before playing), Twinkle (theme and all variations – practice string crossings and faster tempo if you like!), and Lightly Row (focus on last phrase string crossing).
Thank you, happy playing, and stay warm and safe!!
