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THE INSTITUTE

THE FOUNDER-DIRECTOR

Lucinda E. Ali, violin instructor, licensed Kindermusik Instructor

Rashida Black, harp instructor, has won a number of awards including the Keadue International Harp Competition in Ireland, the Golkin Education Award in New York, the Judge's Choice Award for her solo performance in Jordan Hall, Boston, which was broadcast live on WGBH, and the Bonnie Brae Harp Competition in New Jersey. She has held scholarships from the American Symphony Orchestra League, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Natick, MA, New England Conservatory in Boston and University of
Chicago, IL. Ms. Black has presented solo performances at Falmouth Academy, Massachusetts and was featured as a soloist with the Academy's Orchestra performing the Handel Concerto in B-flat. In the Boston area, she has presented solo performances at Walnut Hill School for the Arts, at Jordan Hall and Montclair Museum of Art. As an orchestral and ensemble musician, Rashida Black has played with various orchestras throughout New England including the Cape & Islands Orchestra, the Southeast Strings Orchestra, All-State orchestra, and the Longy School of Music Opera Orchestra. She has also toured internationally to Israel with the New England Conservatory's Youth Symphony, Mexico and Cuba with the Conservatory'sYouth Philharmonic Orchestra, and nationally with popular recording artist Kanye West. Ms. Black has also performed with both the Plainfield Symphony Orchestra and Hawthorne Symphony in New Jersey. Beyond performing, Rashida Black has taught harp at an after-school program at the Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in a program developed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra to bring music to the public schools. Her curriculum included group lessons incorporating basic theory and harmony skills. Ms. Black's students performed each spring in a concert in Jordan Hall. Ms. Black has also taught harp and piano at the Soumas Heritage School of Music in Plainfield, New Jersey. Rashida N. Black is a graduate of the New England Conservatory having studied with Ann Hobson Pilot of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. During her summers, she studied at Tanglewood with Lucile Lawrence, and in Camden, Maine with Alice Chalifoux. Ms. Black has recently received her Master of Arts degree in Humanities from the University of Chicago. Her thesis was entitled "American Anomalies: 19th Century All-Black Orchestras." She recently founded the Myrtle Hart Society, a resource dedicated to "illuminating the accomplishments of classical musicians of color." The organization encourages all musicians, composers and supporters to discuss various aspects of their careers and perform works by composers of color from around the globe. A monthly electronic newsletter promotes the global activities of classical musicians and composers of color.

Harlie Krug, violin and piano instructor, holds her undergraduate degree in music with an emphasis in viola from the University of Miami and her Masters in Musical Education from Pennsylvania State University.  She has worked at the Arts Conservatory of Central Pennsylvania, the West Kendall Music Center, and the State College Suzuki Program.  She was the conductor of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Orchestra for 6 years and an assistant conductor for the Greater Miami Youth Symphony.  She has taught at the State College Summer Camp, Brewster Academy, and Strings for Kids.  She also taught privately for 10 years.  Ms. Krug currently resides in Hyde Park with her family. 

Meg Lauterbach, cello instructor, is passionate about teaching cellists of all ages. She is also on the faculty at Sherwood Conservatory of Music, and maintains her own home teaching studio in the Bridgeport neighborhood. In addition, she is an active member of Suzuki Association of the Americas and is the future president of Music Teachers of Hyde Park. Ms. Lauterbach regularly performs with A Touch of Classical Plus, the Artesian String Quartet and Two Megs, a spoken-word project featuring world percussion and experimental guitar loops. She also appears regularly in Chicago recording studios, playing cello tracks for indie rock bands such as Anathallo and Margot and the Nuclear So-and-so's. Ms. Lauterbach's performances have taken her around the globe--to Tomar, Portugal, to play Baroque cello at the Academia de Musica Antiga; to Osaka, Japan, where she was assistant principal cellist for the Ambassador Chamber Orchestra of Roosevelt University; to Courchevel, France, where she was principal cello for Festival MusicAlps. Wherever she travels, you will see her yellow cello case propped up in the airplane seat next to her! She holds a Master of Music degree in Cello Performance from Roosevelt University. Meg is also a proud liberal arts graduate of Kalamazoo College (Kalamazoo, MI), where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree, studying French, history, botany, and of course, music.

Ellen McSweeney, piano and violin instructor, is also a singer-songwriter. She received her Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance and English from the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University. She has studied Suzuki pedagogy with Carol Smith, Michele George, and Teri Einfeldt. As a chamber musician, she has coached extensively with John Kochanowski, longtime violist of the Concord Quartet, and performed in masterclasses with members of the Vermeer and Emerson Quartets. As a member of the Dragon Park Quartet, she represented the Southeastern U.S. at the 2006 National MTNA Chamber Music Competition. She has attended the Apple Hill, Killington, and Aspen Music Festivals. In 2007-08, Ellen served on the faculty of the Umoja Arts Centre in Arusha, Tanzania, one of only three Suzuki programs presently on the African continent.

David Štech, piano instructor, is currently music director of American Opera Group, the United Church of Hyde Park and Chicago Choral Artists, one of the seven professional choirs in the Chicago area. He is assistant conductor and staff accompanist for the DePaul University opera and choral programs - and for the acclaimed Chicago Children's Choir. He is a frequent vocal and choral clinician for Chicago Public Schools and maintains a private piano studio. As a professor, Mr. Štech has served on the music faculty at the Roosevelt University, the University of Illinois at Chicago and Truman College. As a singer, he has performed with the Chicago Symphony Chorus, William Ferris Chorale, Bella Voce, the Oriana Singers and Ars Music Chicago. An active orchestral and opera conductor, he has also conducted the Chicago Youth Concert Orchestra, the Northwestern University Philharmonia, the North Shore Chamber Orchestra, the Sherwood Symphony Orchestra, the New Symphony Orchestra (Sofia, Bulgaria) and the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic (Zlín, Czech Republic). This summer he will be a vocal coach accompanist and assistant conductor for seven operas in Lucca, Italy. He is one of three finalists for the position of music director of the North Shore Choral Society in Evanston, IL and will audition by conducting in a concert March 8, 2009. In 2003, he received the Leonard Bernstein Conducting Fellowship to study at Tanglewood. His teachers include Christoff von Dohnányi, Kurt Masur, Robert Spano, Larry Rachleff, Otto Werner-Müller, Gustav Meier, JoAnn Falletta, Zdenek Mácal, Rossen Milanov, Michael Morgan, Leslie Dunner and Victor Yampolsky.