2019 Suzuki Workshop
Clinician Bios
James Hutchins - Violin, Maryland
James Hutchins lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his wonderful and gorgeous wife and his fabulous and entertaining son. He grew up in the Suzuki Method, has been a Suzuki teacher for over 25 years and is a proud Suzuki dad. James is a registered teacher trainer who has taught at workshops, institutes and classes around the world, including South Korea, Iceland, Peru, Lithuania, Singapore, Malaysia, Bermuda, the Bahamas and throughout the States. His studio has performed for former Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton at the White House, at the National Zoo, the U.S. Capitol,the Maryland State Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, the National Aquarium and on the Millennium Stage and with the National Symphony at The Kennedy Center. They have also played the National Anthem for the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Wizards and Nationals. James also had the honor of performing for Dr. and Mrs. Suzuki at their home in Japan.
Mary Ann Tortolano - Viola, Virginia
Born and raised in Albany, NY, Mary Ann Tortolano began the violin at age 6 as part of the first wave of Suzuki method instruction hit the United States. After receiving a BM from Oberlin College, where she studied violin with Stephen Clapp and viola with Katherine Plummer, she became a certified Suzuki teacher, studying with the Preucil family in Iowa City. Later she became a Suzuki “parent” and sent all three of her children to Institutes. As Principal Second Violin of both the Spoleto and Graz Festivals, she toured the U.S. and Europe before accepting a position as Principal Viola with the Whitewater and Sorg Opera companies. While teaching in Richmond, Indiana, she hosted the 1991 Suzuki Talent Education Tour from Japan at Earlham College. A former member of the New England Conservatory of Music Prep Division, Newton Music School and the Levine School of Music (Georgetown, DC), she is a freelance violin/violist in the DC area and performs with the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, the Manassas Ballet and the American Festival Pops Orchestra at George Mason University. She teaches at various workshops and Institutes and is on the faculty of New England Music Camp in Sydney, Maine. She has maintained a private studio in Alexandria, VA for 25 years.
June Huang - Violin, Virginia
June Huang is the Director of Strings and Assistant Professor of Violin at George Mason University. Prof. Huang holds a Masters of Arts in Violin Performance from the University of California at Santa Barbara where she was a member of the Young Artist String Quartet. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from Oberlin Conservatory and attended the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as an undergraduate. Prof. Huang studied at the Meadowmount School of Music, Aspen Music Festival, Banff Centre for the Arts, Music Festival at Round Top, and Kneisel Hall. Her primary teachers include Jens Ellerman, Stephen Clapp, Ronald Copes, and Marilyn McDonald. An active performer in the Washington, DC area, she has performed with the National Philharmonic, Harrisburg Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Wolf Trap Orchestra, Washington Ballet Orchestra, and Amadeus Orchestra. She is a frequent chamber music collaborator and has appeared at the Staunton Music Festival, Red Lodge Music Festival, Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia, and Virginia Virtuosi. A specialist on the baroque violin, Prof. Huang plays and records with Opera Lafayette, Four Nations, Bach Sinfonia, and REBEL Baroque Orchestra. Leadership positions have included concertmaster of the Washington Bach Consort and the National Cathedral Baroque Orchestra. Prof. Huang’s passion for furthering the field of violin pedagogy led to the development of new degree programs at Mason. She is a guest clinician and lecturer at many camps, schools, workshops and clinics. She is certified by the Suzuki Association of the Americas and has received research grants from the Levine School of Music and the Music Teachers National Association. Prof. Huang is a faculty member of the Blue Ridge Suzuki Camp and was the Founder and Director of String Camp/Strings Plus at Levine Music in Washington DC, a summer program that celebrated 27 seasons.
Rachel Pino - Violin, North Carolina
Violinist Rachel Harmatuk Pino was born and raised in New Bern, North Carolina and is a professional concert violinist and violin teacher. She is Principal 2nd Violinist for the Long Bay Symphony Orchestra, Executive Director of Trent River Chamber Players, and Concertmaster of New Bern Civic Strings. She performs with the Carolina Chamber Music Festival (New Bern, NC) and directs the CCMF Educational Family Concert. In 2006, Rachel founded New Bern Suzuki Strings, which now has nearly 50 private violin students ages 3+. Rachel appears as a clinician at the NC Suzuki Institute at East Carolina University, the STAHR Workshop (VA), and the Greenville Suzuki Association’s Suzuki Saturdays (NC), and has taught at Craven Community College. She is registered with both Long-Term and Short-Term Suzuki violin training in Every Child Can! and Volumes 1-10 from Teacher Trainers Joanne Bath, Joanne Martin, Enid Cleary, James Hutchins, and Vera McCoy-Sulentic. Rachel is a Suzuki Violin student from the age of 5 and studied with Andrea Smith and Joanne Bath. She earned her undergraduate degree in Violin Performance with Lucy Chapmann at The Boston Conservatory (2005) where she won first place in the 2002 Chamber Music Comeptition. She earned two Masters degrees from East Carolina University (2007), in Suzuki Pedagogy with Teacher Trainer, Joanne Bath and also in Violin Performance.
Ann Montzka Smesler - Violin, Illinois
Ann Montzka Smelser began playing violin at the age of 3 with the help of her mother and father, Marilyn and Arthur Montzka. Later she studied under Kazuko Numanami and Sarah Hersh at the Oberlin College Suzuki Program and later with Rebecca Sandrok and Pierre Menard. In between receiving her Bachelors of Music Education and Masters in Performance and Pedagogy at Northern Illinois University, Ann studied with Dr. Shinichi Suzuki at the Talent Education Institute in Matsumoto, Japan. After college, Ann toured extensively with the Ruggieri String Quartet to all four corners of the United States through Columbia Artists Management. Ann has performed in many orchestras and chamber ensembles and is currently principal 2nd violinist with Camerata Chicago and concertmaster of the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Ann is a lifetime member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas and has been invited to present at several SAA Conferences. Ann became a Registered Suzuki Teacher Trainer in 2005 and currently teaches Suzuki Pedagogy at both Northwestern University and Northern Illinois University. Ann teaches about 40 private students and is director of the NIU, CSA Suzuki Strings Program at NIU and a teacher at MIC in Winnetka. Ann enjoys working with Suzuki families and teachers at Suzuki Institutes and workshops throughout the United States. Ann was a guest teacher at the 2010 International String Conference in Singapore and has given Teacher Training courses in Lima, Peru, Costa Rica and Mexico City. Ann lives in DeKalb, IL with her husband, Linc, and her Golden Retriever, Chloe. Linc and Ann are proud Suzuki parents of their daughter, Genevieve, and son, Benjamin, who are currently pursuing music in college.
Linda Fiore - Violin, Pennsylvania
Linda Fiore began violin lessons at age 5 with her mother Louise Wear, a Suzuki violin teacher. She earned a Bachelor of Music in violin performance at the Hartt College of Music in Hartford, CT and studied with violinist Raphael Bronstein in New York City. later, she studied with Dr. Suzuki at the Talent Education Institute in Matsumoto, Japan for 18 months. She performed her graduation recital and earned her Japanese teaching certificate.In 1983, she and her husband Domenick founded DaCore Talent Education in Glenmore, PA where, for 14 years, she taught violin and directed her own workshops. She has presented student performing groups in Bermuda, Puerto Rico, Europe, and throughout the United States. In 1997 she accepted a teaching position at the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford. She was a Suzuki Teacher trainer in the graduate degree program there and also taught college students as well as young students in the school’s Community Division.Having returned to PA, Linda and Domenick are currently continuing the development of DaCore Talent Education Academy and Fiore Performing strings in the Lehigh Valley area. They continue to co-direct the Ogontz Suzuki Institute, a four-session Summer Institute in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.Linda has done extensive orchestra, chamber orchestra, and chamber music performing over the course of her career with groups such as the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra and the Northeastern PA Philharmonic and the Pennsylvania Sinfonia. She trains teachers and students nationally and internationally and is the mother of two sons, Michael and Christopher.
Zachary Carcella-Sweet, Cello, New York
Zachary Sweet is currently instructor of cello at Nazareth College, Binghamton and Colgate Universities, and on the faculties of Ithaca Talent Education and Music Together of Ithaca. Nationally, he is recognized as an up and coming clinician having led workshops, masterclasses and institutes in Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia. Zachary performs extensively as soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. Currently, Zachary is principal of Colgate University Orchestra and Tri Cities Opera, and performs regularly with the Society of New Music, Binghamton Piano Trio and mezzo-soprano, Ivy Waltz.He completed a masters degree in performance and literature at the Eastman School of Music in 2006; in that time he was also a fellow at the Aspen Music Festival. As an educator, Zachary has spent the past 12 years exploring music development in young children. In 2009, he completed a long-term training program in Talent Education at the School for Strings with Pamela Devenport. Since then he has continued training with Tanya Carey, Carey Cheney, Sally Gross, Carey Beth Hockett, and Rick Mooney. In November 2014, Zachary was awarded the Certificate of Achievement by the Suzuki Association of the Americas.
Crystal Plohman Weigman - Fiddle, Tennessee
Crystal Plohman is no stranger to the wide world of fiddling styles or to the Suzuki Method. As a performer, clinician, pedagogue, composer, and inspiration to thousands of young players, she has dedicated the past 25 years to sharing her knowledge across the fiddling spectrum. She is currently Senior Artist Teacher of Suzuki Violin and Fiddling at the Blair School. Raised in the Suzuki program as one of the first students of the late Alison Rhyles and the Brandon University Suzuki program, Plohman went on to follow in her father’s footsteps as champion Canadian fiddler. She won her first national championship at age 12, and went on to win various other titles, including provincial and state titles, as well Grand North American Champion. She is the only person to place as a top finalist (Top 4) in both the Canadian and American Grand Masters Championships, as well as the Canadian Open Fiddling Championships. After successfully competing for 15 years across Canada and the U.S., Plohman moved to Nashville in 1994 after an invitation from Mark O’Connor to teach at his first fiddle camp and to be his assistant in his fiddle program at Vanderbilt University. After teaching and aiding in the organization for the first 11 O’Connor Fiddle Camps, Plohman later went on to serve as director of the fiddling program and created the summer International Fiddle School.Plohman performed regularly with Chet Atkins, and has shared the stage with other country greats including Patty Loveless, Vince Gill and Clint Black. She has performed and presented workshops around the world including Ireland, Belgium, Japan and China. She has performed as fiddle soloist with several symphony and chamber orchestras across the country. Plohman currently resides in Brentwood, Tenn., with her husband and two young children.