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Piano

Mary Beth Molenaar (Academy Director, Piano division coordinator)

Mary Beth Molenaar graduated with a Doctor of Music degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Northwestern University. She holds masters and bachelors degrees in piano performance from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin, respectively. In addition to piano, her training includes instruction in organ and harpsichord. She is certified in Suzuki piano teaching from the Steven's Point Institute in Wisconsin. Molenaar has received numerous honors and awards including the Outstanding Service to Music Education in Minnesota Award, and the Outstanding Young Alumni Award from St. Cloud State University. Her teaching experience includes working with students of all ages and levels, in both individual and group piano instruction, while on the faculties of St. Cloud State, the University of Wisconsin, and at Northwestern. Molenaar has a full-time position as Lecturer at Northwestern University. In addition to her work in the Music Academy, she teaches pedagogy courses and supervises student teaching experiences for piano pedagogy majors. She remains active as a soloist and accompanist, with performance credits in the Midwest and St. Petersburg, Russia. She serves as an adjudicator for area music competitions, and as a workshop clinician. Prior to her position at Northwestern, Molenaar was director of a private music school in Minnesota. She is a member of Music Teachers National Association, the Illinois State Music Teachers Association, and Sigma Alpha Iota.

Marcia Bosits (Piano)

Marcia Bosits is codirector of graduate studies and director of piano pedagogy at the Bienen School of Music. An internationally recognized performance and pedagogy specialist, she has presented master classes and seminars throughout the United States, Canada, and the Far East. Bosits is an officer in Music Teachers National Association and National Conference on Piano Pedagogy. She is a chamber musician and author of articles in national music journals.

Lynd Corley (Adult and Teen Piano)

Lynd holds a Masters degree in Music Education from the University of Illinois, Urbana where she studied piano, organ, voice and oboe. Her doctoral degree in public policy analysis from Loyola is A.B.D. She has studied piano with Theodore Edel and Soulima Stravinsky. Among other positions, Lynd has served as Director of Bands for the Glenview public school district for over twenty years, sang professionally with the Chicago Symphony Chorus for ten years and maintains a private piano studio in Glenview. She serves on the Illinois State Music Teacher's Association board, is Past-President of the North Shore Music Teacher's Association, and is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda.

Lynd has many years of experience teaching adult and teen classes in community and public school programs. She teaches beginning and continuing classes with great enthusiasm on Monday evenings in the Music Administration Building.

Birdi Dawson (Piano)

Birdi Dawson completed her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees (magna cum laude) at Illinois State University, where she was appointed as a Graduate Assistant of Group Piano instruction. During this time, she studied with Tong-Il Han, internationally known Korean pianist and former student of Rosina Lhevinne from the Juilliard School of Music, and Julian Dawson, British/American pianist and conductor. Her post-graduate study included pedagogy and performance courses with teachers in Vienna and London.

The college years and beyond have found Ms. Dawson focusing on a teaching and accompanying career, while completing two further Masters Degrees in Family and Consumer Science (ISU) and Library and Information Science (Univ. of IL). She managed a private piano studio of 42 students per week for 18 years, while performing as a collaborative pianist in over 500 recitals with soloists, choirs and orchestras. She has also been employed as an opera coach/rehearsal accompanist at ISU and the Brevard Summer Music Festival, North Carolina, performing in over 25 operas/musicals. She has been a member of Delta Omicron, Kappa Omicron Nu and Phi Beta Kappa. She is presently a member of the North Shore Music Teachers Association and was appointed to the faculty of the Northwestern Music Academy in Fall, 2006.

Kristin Elgersma (Piano)

Kristin Elgersma holds an M.M. and D.M. in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Northwestern University, where she studied with Sylvia Wang and Marcia Bosits. She is on faculty at Northwestern University, and also at the Northwestern Music Academy, where she is in her seventh year of teaching. Additionally, she is a professor of piano at Benedictine University in Lisle, IL, and has taught at the Merit School of Music in Chicago, the Center for Musical Development in Skokie, and Martin Methodist College in Pulaski, Tennessee. Dr. Elgersma performs regularly as a soloist, collaborative artist, and chamber musician, and has recently appeared at both locally and regionally. In 2007-2008, she presented a lecture-recital at the Illinois Music Teachers Association State Conference and at the College Music Society's Super-Regional Conference, where she won an award for Best Student Presentation. Her areas of research include extended piano techniques in twentieth-century American music, contemporary piano music for students, and the role of the classical pianist in arts education and community outreach. Dr. Elgersma has appeared in master-classes with John Perry, John Wustman, Keith Underwood, and the Merling Trio. She loves to help her students explore all the beautiful sounds the piano can make!

Katie Hamada (Piano)

Katie Hamada has a B.M. in Piano Performance and Music Education from Northwestern University, an M.M. in Piano Performance from Manhattan School of Music, and is pursuing a D.M.A. in Piano Performance and Pedagogy at Northwestern. She has studied piano with Sylvia Wang, Nina Svetlanova, and David Kaiserman. She has performed in Finland; Paris, France; and in the Chicago Public Schools for Ravinia's One Score One Chicago. In addition she has performed as soloist with NU's Contemporary Music Ensemble, collaborates with NU's Vocal Seminar, and has performed in master classes with numerous teachers. Ms Hamada has been a scholarship recipient of the Chicago Musicians Club of Women. In addition to teaching in the Music Academy, Ms. Hamada teaches privately and in the DePaul Community Music Division.

Annie Hsiao (Piano)

Annie Hsiao holds a Doctor of Music degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Northwestern University. Her research included rhythmic analysis in Russian piano etudes, flexibility of tempo rubato, and Lisztian piano technique. She received bachelor and master degrees in piano performance from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she also earned a masters degree in music theory. Hsiao received numerous academic and piano performance awards during her college and graduate years, including the University Library Award, Teaching Excellence Award, and Piano Division Achievement Award. Under the guidance of Kenneth Drake, David Kaiserman, and Alan Chow, she has performed in several recitals and has participated in numerous piano competitions. Her major pedagogy teachers include Frances Larimer, Marcia Bosits, and Mary Beth Molenaar. Hsiao currently teaches private and group lessons in the Music Academy and keyboard skills classes in the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University.

Karen Kan-Walsh (Piano)

Originally from Michigan, Karen Kan-Walsh began piano studies at the age of seven under the instruction of her mother, Juliana Kan. Kan-Walsh received her bachelors and masters degrees in piano performance from the University of Michigan School of Music in Ann Arbor where she studied under Charles Fisher, Eugene Bossart, and Theodore Lettvin. Additional studies in the Taubman approach were with Joseph Gurt. At Northwestern, where Kan-Walsh received the Doctor of Music degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy, her teachers/advisors included Frances Larimer, Marcia Bosits, Elvina Truman Pearce, Laurence Davis, and John Buccheri. She wrote Cadence, Chromaticism and Counterpoint in Selected Works by W.A. Mozart; Technique in Keyboard Skills for Non-Piano Music Majors; and Russian and Soviet Pre-College Piano Literature as projects for her doctoral degree. Kan-Walsh has performed both solo and chamber music in the Ann Arbor and Chicago areas as well as solo and duo piano performances in St. Petersburg, Russia. An active member of the Illinois State Music Teachers Association, she served as Chairperson for the Performance Syllabus Exams from 1996-98. She is also an active adjudicator and has presented workshops in the Chicago area. Kan-Walsh is currently the coordinator of the Keyboard Skills program at the Bienen School of Music, with past positions at the DePaul University Community Music Division, the University of Illinois at Chicago Department of Music, and Music Arts School in Highland Park. Kan-Walsh is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda and writes new music reviews for Clavier, a journal for pianists and piano teachers.

Debbie Masloski (Adult Piano)

Debbie Masloski began her formal training at the Mozart Conservatory in Augsburg, Germany. As a recipient of the Presidential and Goodbord Scholarships she received a bachelors degree from the University of Northern Colorado. She received her masters degree from the Juilliard School where she studied with Nadia Reisenberg, Herbert Stessin and David Diamond. Masloski completed a Doctor of Music degree at Northwestern University, where her research examined the influence of social and religious trends on the piano literature. Her teachers/advisors included David Kaiserman, Francis Larimer, Marcia Bosits, Peter Webster, and John Buccheri. Masloski has won competitions both here and abroad and has appeared as soloist with orchestras including the Chicago Civic Orchestra, New Mexico Symphony, Colorado Springs Orchestra, and the UNC Symphony. She has performed on WFMT radio, is an active soloist, chamber musician, accompanist, and member of the Testore Trio. Masloski has been on the faculty of the University of Illinois, Chicago State University, Lake Forest College, The Merit Music Program in Chicago, The Jemez Music School in New Mexico and artist in residence at California State University. She is a member of the Music Teachers National Association, the Illinois State Music Teachers Association, Pi Kappa Lambda, and is active as an adjudicator. She also directs the orchestra program for school district 73.

Jennifer Merry (Piano)

Jennifer Merry has taught private piano lessons and pre-piano classes in the Northwestern University Music Academy since 1989. She has coordinated pre-piano classes and currently teaches private and group lessons. She holds two Master of Music degrees from Northwestern University; one in piano performance and pedagogy and one in music education. She also holds an undergraduate degree from Eastern Washington University in piano performance. Ms. Merry was an early recipient of the D.H. Baldwin Fellowship Award for Excellence in Teaching, a national award which recognizes talented young music teachers and helps them to establish private studios. She has reviewed new music for Clavier and American Music Teacher magazines, and has contributed articles to Keyboard Companion magazine. In addition to teaching piano, Ms. Merry is the general music teacher for grades 4 through 8 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Glenview. 

Susan Ramey Osborn (Piano, Adult and Pre-Piano Coordinator)

Susan Ramey Osborn received a Doctor of Music degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Northwestern University, a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Smith College, and a Professional Teaching Certificate from The New School for Music Study in Princeton, NJ. She also studied at the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau, France, and L'Ecole Normale de Musique, Paris under a Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship. Her performance teachers included Robert Miller, Serge Petitgirard, Michael Zenge, Phyllis Rappeport, Francis Whang, Jacob Lateiner, and David Kaiserman. Dr. Osborn studied pedagogy under Frances Clark, Louise Goss, Sam Holland, Frances Larimer, Elvina Truman Pearce, and Marcia Bosits. In addition to teaching at the Academy, Dr. Osborn is on Keyboard Skills faculty of Northwestern University and the Piano faculty of Interlochen Arts Camp. Her teaching experience includes both private and group instruction for students of all ages and levels. As a performer, she has presented numerous recitals and has appeared as a soloist with orchestras. She is active as a performer and adjudicator in the Chicago area, a member of the honorary music society, Pi Kappa Lambda, and a member of Music Teachers National Association.

Emily Parker (Piano)

Emily Parker received her Master of Music degree in Piano Pedagogy and Performance from Northwestern University where she studied piano with James Giles. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Music Education degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia. In addition to experience teaching piano to children and adults, Parker is a certified vocal music teacher (K-12) in Missouri. Currently, she serves as adjunct faculty for Concordia University's Piano Preparatory Department. She has won several performance awards and appears regularly as a solo and collaborative performer. Her professional activities include memberships in MTNA and Pi Kappa Lambda.

Jia-Yee Tang (Piano)

Jia-Yee Tang received her Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from Northwestern University and her Bachelor of Arts in Music with an emphasis in Piano Performance from the University of California, San Diego. Her previous teachers include Virginia Weckstrom, Marcia Bosits, Elizabeth Buccheri and Stefani Walens. She is the recipient of the Dr. Milton H Saier, Sr. Memorial Award from UCSD and the MTNA Student Achievement Recognition Award from NU. Past musical activities include attending the Aspen Music Festival and giving a recital featuring the works of contemporary composer George Crumb. She is a member of MTNA and will serve as a board member for 2008-2009. She has been on faculty at the Academy since 2006 and also teaches at the Highland Park campus of the Music Institute of Chicago. In addition to teaching, she remains an active accompanist in the Chicago area, primarily working in collaboration with musicians from Northwestern University.

Martha Yelenosky (Adult Piano)

Martha Yelenosky received her Bachelor, Masters and Advanced Degrees of Music in Piano as well as Music Ed from the National Conservatory of Music in Argentina, and a Masters in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Northwestern University. Her professional activities include active memberships in MTNA and IMA. Mrs. Yelenosky's involvement in music and pedagogy includes co-founding and managing two international private institutes, authoring a bilingual music program for elementary schools in the Chicago area (by commission), as well as giving music and pedagogy lectures in the US, Brazil, Argentina and Spain.

TingTing Zhang (Piano)

TingTing Zhang, a native of Shenyang, China, has recently completed her Doctor of Music degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy at the Bienen School of Music. She was the first-prize winner in 2004 Thaviu/Isaak Endowed Piano Scholarship Competition. As an active performer, Ms. Zhang has appeared in Preston Bradley Hall at Chicago Cultural Center, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall at Northwestern University, and Nichols Hall at the Music Institute of Chicago. She has also been invited by Chinese Consulate in Chicago to perform with Chinese violinist Siqing Lu. Ms. Zhang has attended Aspen Music Festival and Banff International Keyboard Master Class where she studied with John Perry, Antoinette Perry and Julian Martin. Her doctoral advisors at Northwestern are Marcia Bosits and Sylvia Wang. Ms. Zhang has taught Keyboard Skills classes and non-major piano lessons at the Bienen School of Music. She joined the faculty of the Northwestern Music Academy in 2005. She also served on the jury of MFHC Piano Competition hosted by Chinese Fine Arts Society in Chicago.

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Strings

Stacia Spencer (Strings Coordinator, violin, viola)

Stacia Spencer is a senior lecturer in string pedagogy at the Bienen School of Music and string coordinator for the Academy. She also teaches violin, viola and chamber music in Northwestern's National High School Music Institute. Prior to moving to the Chicago area, Spencer taught at Indiana University School of Music as an assistant professor of music, where she taught seminars in violin and viola pedagogy and was the assistant to Mimi Zweig for the Young Violinist Program. Spencer has played professionally in symphony orchestras and chamber music groups, and has a special interest in contemporary music, working with composers and performing their new pieces. Currently, Spencer is a violist and singer in Jon Eaton's Pocket Opera Company. She received her bachelors and masters degrees in viola from Indiana University School of Music, where she studied with Mimi Zweig, Kim Kashkashian, and George Janzer.

Herine Coetzee (Cello)

Herine Coetzee received her Bachelors and Masters degree in cello performance from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. Her undergraduate degree was from Carnegie Mellon. Herine has studied with such distinguished teachers as Janos Starker, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi and Emilio Colon. She is the Principal Cellist with the Chicago Arts Orchestra and substitutes for the Milwaukee and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Herine has taught at the University of Northern Iowa, Lake Forest College, and the Merit School. Herine joined the Academy faculty in 2007 and teaches cello to children and adults.

Jennifer Byerly Dunne (Violin, viola)

Jennifer Byerly Dunne joined the Academy faculty in 2001, having taught in the program for four years prior. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance and a Master of Music degree in Violin Performance and Pedagogy from Northwestern University, studying violin with Gerardo Ribiero and Blair Milton. She pursued her pedagogical and viola studies under the guidance of James Kjelland and Stacia Spencer. Byerly Dunne currently teaches private lessons, string group lessons, and chamber music at the Academy. She has also served on the faculty of Trinity International University as professor of violin and viola. Byerly Dunne is the owner of Signature Ensemble, Inc. , a performing/outreach string group, formed at Northwestern University, that has represented the Bienen School of Music at various local area events. She is an active performer with many Chicago-based ensembles including the Ravinia Festival Orchestra, the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, and the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra (formerly Symphony II).

Amy Goldberg (Violin)

Amy Goldberg joined the string faculty in 1999, teaching private and group violin lessons. She has taught at Southwest Missouri State and the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, and has an extensive background in orchestra performance, including serving as concertmaster of the Chicago Civic and the Elgin Symphony Orchestras. She is active as a studio musician, having recorded for numerous national television/radio commercials, documentaries, and record albums. Goldberg holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Northwestern, where she completed a doctoral degree in violin performance.

Caroline Jefferies Nordlund (Kindermusik®, Violin)

Caroline earned a masters degree in violin performance and pedagogy from Northwestern University as a student of Gerardo Ribeiro, and graduated summa cum laude from the University of South Carolina in violin performance. At Northwestern, she was awarded the Richard and Helen Thomas Fellowship while a graduate assistant to Stacia Spencer and Dr. James Kjelland. Caroline has attended the Meadowmount School of Music, Aspen Music Festival, Spoleto U.S.A. and Sewanee Summer Music Festivals. She has participated in masterclasses and additional studies with Mimi Zweig, Vadim Gluzman, Benny Kim, Chee-Yun, Herbert Greenberg, Ian Swensen, Axel Strauss and Thomas Moore. She is a member of ASTA and Pi Kappa Lambda.

Caroline is a licensed Kindermusik® instructor teaching early childhood classes at Northwestern. In addition, Caroline is the administrative assistant to Dr. Mary Beth Molenaar, Director of the Academy.

Paula Kosower (Cello)

Paula Kosower is an active performer and teacher in the Chicago area.  She has performed last season with the Sheridan Chamber Players at the Chicago Cultural Center, with Fulcrum Point at the Harris Theater, and with MusicNOW from Symphony Center.   During the summer season she frequently performs at the Ravinia Festival.  She is dedicated to contemporary music and has performed for the June in Buffalo festival and for concerts at the Midwest Composers’ Symposium, University of Chicago contemporary music series, MusicNOW, and the contemporary groups CUBE, Fulcrum Point and ICE.  Ms. Kosower teaches a course in cello pedagogy at Northwestern University, private lessons at the Northwestern University String Academy and chamber music at the Merit School of Music where she is also a member of the faculty piano trio.  She received her bachelor's and master’s degree at Indiana University where she was a scholarship student of Janos Starker.   She also served as Mr. Starker’s graduate teaching assistant.  She is currently finishing her doctoral degree at Northwestern University.

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Kindermusik®

Pat Heineman-Vernon (Kindermusik® Coordinator)

kindermusik@northwestern.edu

Patricia Heineman-Vernon has been teaching music to young children for over 30 years. She has a B.A. degree in music education from Mundelein College. She has been a licensed Kindermusik educator since 1992 and was named a Kindermusik Maestro in 2002 and 2003 for her success in sharing the Kindermusik experience with large numbers of families. She is director of the Center for Musical Development in Skokie. She is an active member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas and the National Guild of Piano Teachers and has formerly served on the faculties of the Wheaton College Suzuki Program, Mundelein College, the Suzuki Music Academy of Chicago and the Jack Benny Center for the Performing Arts. Ms. Heineman-Vernon is a guest clinician at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan every summer. She is continually attending workshops and conferences to learn as much as possible about early childhood music. She is the mother of two children, a cellist and a trombonist.

Julie Friend (Kindermusik®)

Julie Friend is an experienced Kindermusik® teacher, having taught at the North Shore School for the Arts in Glencoe and the Gold Coast Music School. She has also taught general music for three years. She holds a degree from Drake University in Music Education, Choral/General.

Caroline Jefferies Nordlund (Kindermusik®, Violin)

Caroline earned a masters degree in violin performance and pedagogy from Northwestern University as a student of Gerardo Ribeiro, and graduated summa cum laude from the University of South Carolina in violin performance. At Northwestern, she was awarded the Richard and Helen Thomas Fellowship while a graduate assistant to Stacia Spencer and Dr. James Kjelland. Caroline has attended the Meadowmount School of Music, Aspen Music Festival, Spoleto U.S.A. and Sewanee Summer Music Festivals. She has participated in masterclasses and additional studies with Mimi Zweig, Vadim Gluzman, Benny Kim, Chee-Yun, Herbert Greenberg, Ian Swensen, Axel Strauss and Thomas Moore. She is a member of ASTA and Pi Kappa Lambda.

Caroline is a licensed Kindermusik® instructor teaching early childhood classes at Northwestern. In addition, Caroline is the administrative assistant to Dr. Mary Beth Molenaar, Director of the Academy.

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Voice

Natalia Lyashenko (Adult Voice Class Coordinator, Academy Chorus Director)

Natasha Lyashenko received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Novosibirsk State Conservatory, Russia. After completing her studies, she was invited to teach there and to work at the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater. She subsequently lived for two years in Kyoto, Japan where she had a large private voice studio and was affiliated with the Sakai City Opera Company. Since coming to the United States, she has taught at Iowa State University, Roosevelt University, and, since 1997, at Northwestern University. At NU, she teaches voice classes and a performance seminar to non-music major students, and works with the opera chorus.

Anne Marie Ouverson (Voice)

Anne Marie Ouverson, soprano, teaches Youth and Young Adult voice with the Music Academy.  Anne Marie holds a Masters of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Luther College where she was a member of the Nordic Choir under Weston Noble.  Throughout her career she has performed roles in operas such as The Magic Flute, Street Scene, Die Fledermaus,Falstaff, Der Rosenkavalier and The Ballad of Baby Doe.  She also has been a featured soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Berio’s Folksongs, Derr’s I Never Saw Another Butterfly, J.S. Bach’s Cantatas Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott andNun komm der Heiden Heiland, Mozart’s Requiem and Missa Brevis. She is currently a member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus.  She holds teaching positions currently at the Latin School of Chicago and Niles West High School.  Anne Marie is a member of NATS and serves on the Chicago Chapter NATS Board and is co-chair of the New Members/Recruitment Committee.

Melissa Foster (Voice)

Melissa Foster has a Master of Music degree in Music Education with a concentration in Voice from Northwestern University as well as a Bachelor of Music with Honors in Voice/Opera and Musical Theater Performance. She is currently serving as a Senior Lecturer at Northwestern University where she teaches applied and class voice, and the courses Performance Seminar: History of The American Musical Theater and Choral Pedagogy for the Choral Educator. In addition to teaching at Northwestern, Foster conducts the Women's Chorus at North Park University. She is also a member of the voice faculty at the Music Institute of Chicago where her responsibilities include private voice lessons, the courses Adult Voice Sampler, Singing Techniques for Young Singers, Broadway Bound, and teaching at the Summer Vocal Institute. She also serves as one of the teaching artists and coordinators of the Music Integration Program. In the past, Foster has been assistant conductor of the Cantores Minores Chicago, where her responsibilities included conducting, curriculum development, and small group emphasis on the voice as an instrument. She currently serves as a consultant on vocal health and practice for the Boy Choir. She has also taught choral groups in Northbrook and in Evanston and has had private studios in Flossmoor, Evanston, Winnetka, Northbrook, and Downtown Chicago. In the past 6 years, she has taught over 700 singers of all ages and performance levels.

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