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 10/11, 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 scales (doing a posture and bow hold check each time before playing), O Come Little Children (prepare for final play-through and really watch out for those up-bows!), and May Song (really great job with this song today, just look out for those dotted quarter notes in the first and third lines).
Olivia
– Recommended practice time: 30 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: review 2-octave major scales (especially those with shifting, and try to memorise the finger patterns for each scale), Avatar State (second violin part – practice shifting in last section and stretch fourth finger on A string), and Mirror duet (notes are coming along nicely, so focus on keeping eighth notes even).
Amaia
– Reminder: if you can find the time, please get your violin tuned, especially now that both your A and E strings are out of tune! I recommend calling a music store like Long & McQuade and seeing if you can drop off the violin curbside to get it tuned. I understand things are more complicated because of the pandemic, so please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!
– Recommended practice time: 15 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: window washer bow hold exercise, down-up-down-up on all open strings and keeping your bow in the middle of the bridge and fingerboard, 0-1-2-3-2-1-0 fingering pattern on all strings (make sure your hand is farther from your face and towards the end of the violin, plus try not to stretch your fingers too much), G, D, and A Major scales, and Twinkle (theme and all variations, especially B – try chanting “bacon and-” before playing!).
Hendry
– Recommended practice time: 20 min/day, 5 days/week
– Practice: C, D, and G Major scales (one octave), C Major scale (two octaves and make sure to do a bow hold and posture check each time before playing any scale), Minuet 1 (prepare for final run-through either next class or class after that, remember to do bow retakes at the end of sections and watch out for F# in the third line), Question (focus on middle section and watch out for the E-flat in the second line), and Starting the Case (focus on first four lines and the low first finger for G#, and go over E-flat Major if you feel comfortable – don’t worry, we’ll go over it again next time!).
Grace – congratulations on learning a new song!
– 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 scales (doing a posture and bow hold check each time before playing), Twinkle (theme and variations – play through them all and see if you can increase the tempo and play faster!), and Lightly Row (just slowly play through and get comfortable with the notes).
Thank you and happy playing! I appreciate all of you!
