Suzuki School of Newton Faculty

All of our instrumental teachers have extensive training through the Suzuki Association of the Americas. In addition to being talented performers, our teachers have a deep knowledge of music pedagogy and of Suzuki philosophy.

Sachiko Isihara - Executive Director, Piano Faculty, Teacher Trainer

Sachiko Isihara has served as the Executive Director of Suzuki School of Newton for over 20 years. As a European Suzuki Association and Suzuki Association of the Americas certified piano teacher, she completed her Suzuki training in Matsumoto, Japan with Haruko Kataoka and long-term teacher training in Lyon, France with Colette Daltier. She is a frequently sought after clinician for the Massachusetts Suzuki Festival and adjudicator for the South Shore Conservatory piano competition.

Prior to her appointment as Executive Director of Suzuki School of Newton in 1998, Sachiko served on the faculties of Ecole Koenig in Paris and Third Street Music School in New York.

As a pianist, Sachiko has performed in solo and chamber music recitals throughout the USA and France. She earned her B.M. in piano performance with honors from New England Conservatory and her M.M. in piano performance form Juilliard.

Sachiko is also the Director of the Suzuki by the Green summer piano institute, and she has been a certified Suzuki Teacher Trainer since 2008.

Violin/Viola Faculty

Bekka Eöwind

Bekka Eöwind has been involved with the Suzuki method since early childhood and believes it is the best method for teaching musical awareness and developing good instrumental technique, one small step at a time. She studied with Anastasia Jempelis at the Eastman School of Music, followed by over two decades of teaching Suzuki violin in private studios and Suzuki schools in St. Louis, Boston, and now Wilmington, VT.

Sean Larkin

Violinist Sean Larkin maintains an active and multifaceted career playing music of diverse styles. He regularly performs with the Orchestra of Emmanuel Music, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and Odyssey Opera. In the summer of 2024 he performed with the Royal Ballet of the United Kingdom at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival.

His versatility extends to musical theater, with performances at the American Repertory Theater, Boston Opera House, and the Ogunquit Playhouse. He plays in orchestras throughout New England, including the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Portland SymphonyOrchestra, and Boston Landmarks Orchestra.

Sean holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, where he studied with David Salness and members of the Guarneri Quartet, and a master’s degree from Boston University, where he studied with Bayla Keyes.

Joy Grimes

Dr. Joy Grimes is a performer and educator in the Boston area. She teaches Suzuki Viola, Violin, ECE and fiddling at the Suzuki School of Newton. Her primary Suzuki teachers have been John Kendall, Vera McCoy-Sulentic, Carolyn McCall, Teri Einfeldt, Joanne Martin, and Cathryn Lee. Joy holds degrees from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (B.M.) and Boston University (M.M., D.M.A.).

Lisa Hollis

Lisa Hollis holds a B.A. from Milligan College and an M.M. from Northern Arizona University. Prior to joining the Suzuki School of Newton, she taught at Longmont Suzuki Strings and the Bermuda School of Music. Lisa has performed in concert with Josh Groban, Smokey Robinson, Quincy Jones, Kenny Rogers, John Ingram, Patti Austin, John Legend, Michael McDonald, the Boulder Symphony Orchestra, and the Bermuda Philharmonic Orchestra.

Sarah Titterington Ibbett

Sarah Titterington Ibbett holds degrees in violin performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Boston University College of Fine Arts. She studied Suzuki pedagogy with Alice Joy Lewis, Carol Dallinger, Nancy Jackson, Beth Titterington, Lynn McCall and Wan Tsai Chen, and she was a Suzuki kid herself.

Ming-hang Tam

Ming-hang Tam is a Boston-based concert violinist and educator. He is the Concertmaster with The Cambridge Chamber Ensemble and Shift Orchestra Project, Section Violinist at Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra, and Violin Faculty/Teaching Artist at South Shore Conservatory, Boston String Academy, and Crescendo Music Education of Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. Ming-hang holds a Master of Music degree in Violin Performance with Academic Honors from New England Conservatory.

San-yi Lin

San-yi Lin has served as the Suzuki School of Newton String Department Chair since 2001. She holds a B.A. in Music and a B.S. in Psychology from the University of California, Irvine, as well as an M.M. in Violin Performance from Boston University School of Fine Arts. She received her Suzuki Training with Vera McCoy-Sulentic, Carol Sykes, Alice Joy Lewis, and Kimberly Meier-Sims.

Amy Tai

Amy Tai has been a Suzuki violin teacher since 2002 and at the Suzuki School of Newton since 2012. Trained at the annual International Suzuki festivals of Latin America with Marilyn O’Boyle, Nancy Lokken, Patricia D’Ercole, Doris Preucil, and others, she grew up in Newton studying with Ronald Knudsen. Amy majored in Music at Wesleyan University and has a Masters in Education from Smith College.

Sheryl LaFayette

Sheryl Lafayette received her BMus (honors) and Masters degrees from U Madison-Wisconsin, followed by extensive post-grad study in Suzuki philosophy and pedagogy. She is a past Director of the MA Suzuki Association and the MA Suzuki Festival. Sheryl performs as a freelancer with the Merrimack Valley Philharmonic, the North Shore Philharmonic, and the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra.

Kasey Calebaugh

Dr. Kasey Calebaugh holds Viola Performance degrees from Northern Arizona University (B.M.), University of Oregon (M.M.), and The Hartt School (D.M.A.). Kasey began his Suzuki violin & viola teaching over 10 years ago in Flagstaff, AZ at the NAU Community & Dance Academy, completing long-term violin training with Dr. Louise Scott. Dr. Calebaugh brings excitement and energy to his classrooms while cultivating a loving and supportive environment.

Cello Faculty

Alyssa Lawson

Alyssa Lawson holds a master's degree in cello performance from Boston University. She is a founding member of the classical music non-profit Spectacle Collective, as well as Cellos on the Charles, a group that supports cello education in Eastern MA.

Jenna Girone-Virgilio

Jenna Girone-Virgilio is on the faculty at the New England Conservatory Prep Division, New England Suzuki Institute, and maintains her own private studio. She was the Head of the Suzuki Cello/Bass Department at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and her students have been accepted into all-county and all-state orchestras, as well as such prestigious programs as the Special Music School, LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts, and Interlochen Summer Music Camp.

Ben Peterson (Faculty Emeritus)

Ben Peterson taught at the Suzuki School of Newton for over 20 years. He is an active conductor, soloist, and chamber musician throughout Massachusetts with experience in public school education. He studied with Yehuda Hanani at the Peabody Institute and Charles Wendt at the University of Iowa.

Melody Giron

Melody Giron has over 10 years of teaching experience in both group and private lessons. She earned her B.A. from The New England Conservatory of Music and an M.M. from Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. Melody's teaching is energetic and nurturing of each student's needs while maintaining high expectations and love of music.

Darry Dolezal

Darry Dolezal’s enthusiasm for playing cello, especially in chamber ensembles, has led to some incredible music-making with acclaimed ensembles across the United States, including the EOS Ensemble in Boston, the Artaria Quartet with residencies in Georgia and Wisconsin, the Esterházy Quartet, Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Missouri, and back to Boston where he currently performs with the Thoreau Piano Trio.

Piano Faculty

Hee-Young Chae

Hee-Young Chae has been a piano teacher and accompanist at the Suzuki School of Newton since 2004. She completed her Suzuki Piano Teacher training with Caroline Fraser, Doris Koppelman, and Doris Harrel. She holds a B.M. from the Boston Conservatory and an M.M. from the Longy School of Music.

Elizabeth Hodges

Elizabeth Hodges holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Plymouth State University with concentrations in piano and flute. She studied Suzuki flute pedagogy with Laurel Maurer at the Hartt School of Music and Suzuki piano pedagogy with Gail Lange in Waterloo, Canada and Sachiko Isihara in Newton.

Sheryl LaFayette

Blancamaria Montecinos helps to deliver piano lessons to each preschool student twice each week. Ms. Montecinos also teaches students of all ages at the Preschool’s sister program, the Suzuki School of Newton and serves at the head of the piano department.

Blancamaría Montecinos began her pedagogy studies in 1981, at the Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación, graduating in 1988 as Professor of Music Education.

Fani Liao

Fani Liao (B.M., M.M.; Manhattan School of Music) has performed as a featured pianist in N. America, Asia, and Europe; as well as on television and radio programs. Fani has also studied harp, is a composer member of ASCAP, and a mother of two Suzuki School students. Her music-making is inspired by many subjects, yet adhering to the motto: “Artistry is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

Yuting Lin

Yuting Lin holds a B.M. from National Taiwan Normal University and an M.M, New England Conservatory of Music. As a Suzuki piano teacher, she has training in Books 1 through 7. She has been a faculty member at Suzuki School of Newton since 2009.

Flute, Guitar, and Harp, and Voice Faculty

Elizabeth Markey

Elizabeth Markey holds a master of music degree in harp performance from the Julliard School. She has performances with the New York Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Sun Valley, Summer Symphony, and the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony. Awards include American Harp Society National Competition, Anne Adams Award, and the Vira I. Heinz Scholarship for study and travel abroad

Jay Rosenberg

Jay Rosenberg has been teaching Suzuki guitar since 1993. A founding member of Voice of the Turtle, he is a multi-instrumentalist and singer, and performs for children throughout the state with Young Audiences of Massachusetts.

Nicholas Ford

In addition to enhancing the Suzuki School of Newton experience as our registrar, Nicholas Ford is a vocalist, composer, writer, and performer throughout the Boston area. Nicholas hails from Mississippi and studied composition at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee.

Nicholas’s compositions have been performed by the Nightingale Vocal Ensemble in addition to other talented groups in the area. He has recently joined our Musicianship faculty as well as helped to start our Suzuki Voice program at the Suzuki School of Newton having recently completed his Unit 1 Suzuki Voice training through the Suzuki Association of the Americas with Teacher-Trainer Mary Hofer.

Elizabeth Hodges

Rose Hegele

Rose Hegele holds a master’s degree in contemporary classical music performance from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and a bachelor degree in vocal performance and musical arts from the Eastman School of Music. Active in several genres including contemporary opera, chamber music, and choral music, Ms. Hegele is a founding member of Peridot Duo and Into the Light Ensemble, and has sung with Nightingale Vocal Ensemble, Guerilla Opera and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. Passionate about service through education, Ms. Hegele has given masterclasses on vocal technique and composing for the voice at institutions including Roger Williams University, Frost School of Music, and the Wildflower Composers Festival.

Musicianship Faculty

Julia Carey

Julia Scott Carey received a master’s degree in composition from the Harvard-New England Conservatory joint degree program, as well as a master’s degree in collaborative piano from Boston University. As a composer, her orchestral works have been performed by numerous orchestras, including the Boston Symphony and the Boston Pops. She is one of the accompanists for the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and the Boston Symphony Children’s Choir, and she is also a founder and core ensemble member of Juventas New Music Ensemble.

Bo Konigsmark

Dr. Bo Konigsmark is a composer, ensemble director and educator. He has studied composition at Berklee College of Music, Tufts University and the Hartt School. His primary instruments are flute, guitar and piano. He loves that music is endlessly creative, but that it is also a lifelong intellectual pursuit.

Rose Hegele

Ginny Latts

Ginny Latts holds a B.A. from Macalester College and a Dalcroze Certificate and License from Longy School of Music, with additional studies at Columbia University, Juilliard School, Dalcroze School of Music, and Carnegie Mellon University. She also has training in modern dance and Orff techniques. Ginny is currently on the faculty of Longy School of Music and New England Conservatory. She trains students and teachers nationally in workshops at Tanglewood, MENC Eastern Division, Boston University, and UMass-Lowell.