Stringendo

Stringendo is a comprehensive, year-round string education program encompassing private lessons, Suzuki group classes, chamber music, orchestra, summer camp, and special events such as master classes with visiting artists. Participants are welcome to enroll in any or all of the components. All Stringendo programs are presented by the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance's Community Music and Dance Academy.

Printable information about Stringendo

Private Lessons

The Stringendo faculty are professional musicians with years of experience as teachers and performers. For a developing musician, there is no substitute for private instruction with a highly trained and experienced teacher. Click here to learn more about private lessons at the Community Music and Dance Academy.

Chamber Music

Weekly small-group coaching with the Stringendo faculty can help to foster a sense of cohesion among an existing or newly-formed chamber group. Violin, viola, cello, and piano students ages 8 - 20 are eligible to participate in this program. Group placement is by audition. Pre-formed chamber ensembles are also welcome. Stringendo chamber ensembles have performed for visiting artists such as the Shanghai String Quartet.

2 sessions for Fall 2009:
Start date 9/6/09, end date 10/24/09
Start date 10/26/09, end date 12/19/09
$175.00 per session ($100.00 for current Academy students and Musical Bridges students).

Who can audition

Violin, viola, cello and piano students ages 8-20 are eligible to participate. We also welcome pre-formed chamber music groups.

Rehearsals and Coachings

All rehearsals and coachings will be held on the UMKC campus. After students are assigned to their chamber music groups, coachings and rehearsals will be scheduled according to the time availability of students and their coaches. Each group will have one coaching a week. It is expected that the group will meet at least once a week for rehearsal without the coach.

Final Recital: TBA

Session I:*                  The final concert will be scheduled during the weekend of October 23^rd - 25^th

Session II:                  The final concert will be scheduled during the weekend of December 18^th - 20^th

Schedule

Session I:            Start: the week of September 6^th - September 12^th

End: the week of October 18^th - October 24^th

Session II:            Start: the week of October 26^th - October 31^st

End: the week of December 13^th – December 19^th

(No coaching during Thanksgiving week - November 22^nd -28^th)

Audition

A placement audition will be scheduled with each Student. Please call (816-235-5000 #9842), or e-mail (dkhb2@umkc.edu) to schedule an audition. Audition should include a solo work and a scale of your choice. For the pre-formed groups, you have a choice of either auditioning as a group, or individually. Participants of the UMKC Chamber Music Festival can sign up without auditioning.

UMKC Academy Office:

Phone: 816-235-2741

E-mail: melfic@umkc.edu

Address: 301 E 51st St # 201. Kansas City, MO 64112-2765

Auditions will be held in Room #438 at the James C. Olson Performing Arts Center, 4949 Cherry, Kansas City, MO 64110.

Deadline for scheduling an audition is for Session I is September 3^rd.

Deadline for scheduling an audition is for Session II is September October 16^th.

Audition Dates

Session I:            Saturday, August 29^th: 9am - 12pm

Saturday, September 5^th: 9am - 12pm

Session II:            Saturday, October 17^th: 9am - 12pm

Tuition

The tuition is $175 per person for the program. $100 for UMKC Academy students

Stringendo Summer Camp

In 2007 and 2008, Stringendo hosted a Summer Camp for young chamber musicians. In 2009, Stringendo joined forces with the Heartland Chamber Music Academy to offer a combined Chamber Music Festival at UMKC. Instrumentalists ages 8 - 20 who play violin, viola, cello, bass, piano, harp, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, trumpet, trombone, and tuba were invited to audition. SUMMER 2010 INFORMATION COMING SOON! Click here for more information.

Suzuki Violin Group Classes

Group classes for Suzuki violin students. Small class size and low student/teacher ratio make these classes a great learning experience. Current classes are for students at the Pre-Twinkle level; please call to inquire about classes at other levels. Tuition is $87.50 for 4 classes (DISCOUNTED RATE of $50.00 for current CMDA students). Spring 2009 classes will be March 14, April 11, April 18, and May 2.

Tuition is $87.50 (discounted rate of $50.00 for current Community Music and Dance Academy students). Click "Sign Up" above to register for Stringendo chamber music. (COMING SOON)

Stringendo Faculty

CHIA-FEI LIN, a graduate of Cleveland Institute of Music, is currently a member of the Des Moines Symphony. Ms. Lin is the winner of the 1995 Taiwan National Violin Competition, the 2006 Philharmonia of Greater Kansas City Concerto Competition and the 2006 UMKC Concerto Competition. Ms. Lin is also a recipient of the 2004 and 2006 Kansas City Musical Club Fellowship. As a soloist, she has performed with the Philharmonia of Greater Kansas City, National Taipei University of Arts String Orchestra and UMKC Conservatory Orchestra. Ms. Lin has participated and performed in numerous music festivals and summer programs in Europe, Asia and the United States: Taiwan Connection Festival, Salzburg Mozarteum Academy, Carl Flesh Academy and Aspen Music Festival, to name a few. Ms. Lin is also a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at UMKC Conservatory under the tutelage of Professor Benny Kim, and she joined the UMKC Conservatory Academy violin faculty in 2004.

JACKIE LEE, violist, is a recipient of top prize awards in the Cleveland Institute Concerto Competition, the Ekstrand Competition and the National Viola Competition of Taiwan. As an active chamber musician, Mr. Lee was a member of the Satori Quartet, the recipient of the Fellowship of Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and Juilliard Quartet Seminar. Satori Quartet was appointed Young Artist Quartet-in-Residence at Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival. The quartet was invited to perform at the Aspen Music Festival and Bravo Music Festival and also to conduct a series of outreach programs to more than a dozen of schools and over 2,500 students throughout the Colorado area. Besides serving as a faculty member at the UMKC Community Music and Dance Academy, Mr. Lee’s other teaching activities include the Youth Programs of the Aspen Festival, the Bravo Music Festival, Kneisel Hall Music Festival and Taiwan National Institute of Art Summer Chamber Music Academy. Mr. Lee received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Viola Performance as well as a Bachelor degree in Audio Recording Engineering at the Cleveland Institute. He is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at the UMKC Conservatory of Music & Dance.

DAVID KOVAC started to play violin at the age of four and later, at the Janácek Conservatory in Ostrava, decided to play viola. He is a founding member of the Golden Mountain String Trio. This ensemble was accepted to the Apple Hill Chamber Music Festival in New Hampshire during the summer of 1995. After the festival, Mr. Kovác received a scholarship to the Longy School of Music in Boston, where he completed his Bachelor of Music degree. In 1998, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst offered the trio Graduate Teaching Assistantships in chamber music and orchestra. Mr. Kovác was the principal violist of the UMass orchestra and played with many other orchestras in the Boston area. In 2001, he received his Master of Music degree from UMass-Amherst. In 2002, Mr. Kovác was offered a Graduate Assistantship at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he is a member of the Graduate String Quartet and is pursuing a doctoral degree in viola performance. His principal teachers include Pavel Vítek, Michelle LaCourse, and Charles Treger. Mr. Kovác has taught at the Dana Hall School of Music in Wellesley and the Brattleboro Music Center in Vermont. Mr. Kovác is active as a chamber musician and orchestral player. He has played over hundred performances throughout Europe and United States with the Golden Mountain String Trio in addition to many others with the Graduate String Quartet at UMKC and with his wife, pianist Michaela Kovácová.