Teachers

Liz Arbus

Liz Arbus is an SAA Sanctioned Teacher Trainer. Liz received her Bachelors Degree in Music Education at Illinois State University and her Masters Degree in Violin Performance at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville where she studied with the renowned Suzuki Teacher Trainer, John Kendall. Ms. Arbus taught Suzuki violin in Berkeley, Calif. for five years before moving to Pasadena. Liz taught with the Pasadena Suzuki Music Program 1985 - 2004. She is currently the director of Suzuki Talent Education in Pasadena (STEP). She teaches at several Suzuki Institutes all over the United States. Liz continues violin lessons with Zoya Leybin, coach and violinist in the San Francisco Symphony and is beginning Baroque Violin studies with Elizabeth Blumenstock. In teaching children I see the hope and joy that learning brings. In learning the violin, children do a step-by-step process of discovery which carries over into every aspect of life. The Suzuki Method aids in this growth process with continual nurturing from both parent and teacher. Suzuki Institutes provide an enjoyable environment to motivate students, parents and teachers. Being able to produce music can create self-assurance and an inner joy. Listening to music can soothe our hearts and minds. I hope through my teaching I can create a lifelong connection to a marvelous musical tradition.

Lauren Deutsch

Lauren Deutsch is a violin teacher with Suzuki Talent Education in Pasadena (STEP) and currently maintains a studio of over 30 students ages three and up. As a second year doctoral student in the violin performance program at UCLA, Lauren currently studies with Movses Pogossian and Guillaume Sutre, and she completed her master’s degree in violin performance with Lorenz Gamma. In addition to teaching with STEP, Lauren teaches at the college level as a teaching assistant for the UCLA string pedagogy class. Lauren also holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in science. Graduating Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology from USC, she went on to pursue a master’s degree in Kinesiology, completing original research studying the biomechanics of violin players. While at USC, she was the teaching assistant for the upper level exercise physiology classes and was a research assistant in the biomechanics lab. This past year, Lauren and her sister, Lindsay, co-founded a non-profit organization Classics Alive (www.classicsalive.org) to encourage, mentor, and motivate kids to become involved in classical music. Lauren loves children and is a teacher at heart. Visit her website at www.LaurenDeutsch.com.

Liana Gaughan

Liana Gaughan comes from Yerevan, Armenia where she studied at the prominent Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory of Music. There, she studied with Henrik Smbatian, vice president of State Conservatory and author of the violin collection, “Young Violinist.” Liana received her Masters in Violin Performance and violin instruction and also studied piano as her secondary instrument. While attending the Conservatory, she was chosen to become a member of Tagharan Early Music Ensemble, an International chamber group that traveled and performed throughout Eastern as well as Western Europe. Liana has been teaching violin for almost 10 years in three different languages; English, Armenian and Russian. She is a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas and completed her Suzuki Teacher training with Liz Arbus. She has recently joined the faculty of Suzuki Talent Education of Pasadena. Liana has also been very fortunate to be an employee of Old Town Music in Pasadena for more than three years. She is married with two children, a three year old boy and a new born girl.

Amy Herrick

Amy Evans Herrick recently moved to the La Canada area with her husband and little boy. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, she began her private violin studies under the direction of Deborah Moench at the age of eight. She has played in numerous orchestras and won many awards for various solo competitions. Among her most recent teachers are Jack Ashton and Barbara Scowcroft of the Utah Symphony Orchestra. She also was a member of the Orchestra at Temple Square, performing many classical as well as religious works under the direction of Barlow Bradford and Craig Jessop. Amy graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in music education and taught general music and orchestra in the public school system for three years. She has taught private violin lessons for over fifteen years and ran a studio of forty students in Salt Lake City. She continues to love music and children and looks forward to wonderful musical experiences in California!

Leo Kitajima

Leo Kitajima is a jazz clinician for STEP's Tour Group. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, and has studied with many violin teachers in the Southern California region, including Margaret Shimizu, Fung Ho, Chan Ho Yun, and Janos Negyesy. Besides classical music, Leo has always had an interest in many other genres of music. At the University of California, San Diego, he began exploring the possibility of playing jazz on the violin and became proficient enough to sit in with the university big band, playing the alto saxophone part on his violin. Leo continued his jazz studies at the University of Southern California and was the only violinist in the jazz department. His exploration with his instrument has allowed him to play alongside many great musicians, such as Tony Bennet, Sir James Galway and Stevie Wonder. In addition to playing the violin, Leo greatly enjoys teaching and began his Suzuki teacher training in the year 2000. His teacher trainers include Michelle George, Susan Kempter, Ed Kreitman, John Kendall, William Starr, and Liz Arbus.

Laurie Niles

Laurie Niles is an educator who is certified through Suzuki Violin Book 10 by the Suzuki Association of the Americas, having trained in Suzuki pedagogy with James Maurer of the University of Denver, Enid Cleary of Chicago, Ill. Ellie LeRoux of Longmont, Colo., Helen Brunner of London and Mark Bjork of the University of Minnesota. Laurie holds a Bachelor's degree in music from Northwestern University and a Master's degree in journalism from Indiana University. She maintains a private studio of youth and adult violin students. She also started a large first-grade Suzuki program at McKinley School, a public school in Pasadena. She has has played the violin professionally for 15 years, most recently with the Pasadena and New West Symphonies. In addition to her music career, she has worked as a full-time news reporter for a major metropolitan newspaper and is currently the editor of the online publication Violinist.com. Laurie is married to Robert Niles, and they have two children.

Cheryl Scheidemantle

Violinist Cheryl Scheidemantle received her Ph.D. in violin performance at New York University. She earned a Master of Music degree at the Juilliard School in New York City, and her Bachelor of Music degree as a scholarship student at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. Her teachers have included Dorothy Delay, Margaret Pardee, Paul Kantor, Amy Barlowe, and William Lincer. Ms. Scheidemantle currently is on the faculty of the Polytechnic School in Pasadena, teaches with Suzuki Talent Education of Pasadena, and has held the position of Artist-in-Residence at Whittier College. Ms. Scheidemantle is past-president of the Board of Directors of the Suzuki Music Association of California. Besides with music, Ms. Scheidemantle’s days are filled being a mother to her three young children.

Melissa Solomon

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, cellist Melissa Solomon came from a family of professional musicians and developed an early passion for music. She immigrated to the United States after receiving a full merit scholarship for study at Interlochen Arts Academy. She continued her studies with internationally renowned cellist Timothy Eddy at the Juilliard School in New York City. Ms. Solomon has worked as an instructor at such programs as the Altelekker Music Festival and the Solomon Suzuki School (South Africa). She has presented masterclasses at the Suzuki Institute of Dallas and participated in the Juilliard’s Community Fellowship Program, bringing music to diverse audiences throughout the New York metropolitan area. In addition, she developed a thriving private teaching studio in New York. She gained her Suzuki training at the Colorado Suzuki Institute and the Chicago Suzuki Institute. Ms. Solomon has performed throughout the United States, Europe and Africa, including such major cities as New York, London, Florence, Edinburgh, Johannesburg and Cape Town. She has appeared at major music festivals, among them the Accademia Chigiana (Italy), the Edinburgh International Festival (Scotland), the Bucknell Quartet Program (Pennsylvania) and the Franschoek Chamber Music Festival (South Africa). Her last season featured concerts in the United States, Great Britain and Italy. Highlights included a solo recital at Lincoln Center’s Paul Hall (NY), performance at the Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi (Italy) and leading the Juilliard Symphony celli at Carnegie Hall (NY) under the baton of James de Priest. Melissa is delighted to be in California where she has developed her professional career as a Suzuki teacher. This has been her long term goal for many years, allowing her to combine her passion for music with the satisfaction and rewards of teaching.

Suzuki Talent Education of Pasadena, California
626-796-2633