STRING

CHAIR OF THE STRING DEPARTMENT

COLLEEN CHENAIL, originally from Massachusetts, started Suzuki violin lessons in first grade at her school, Whitinsville Christian.  After graduating in 1993 she headed to Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York where she majored in music education and performance.  She continued her academic studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a masters in Violin Performance, graduating in 2000.  Colleen has taught Suzuki violin at the Music Academy of North Carolina since 2001 and has received Suzuki training from books 1-6.  She has been the head of the string department and summer music camps at the Music Academy, received the Elizabeth King Brown Teaching Excellence Award and continues to be a Master Teacher.  Colleen has taught orchestra and chorus in the Forsyth County Schools and currently teaches preschool music in Headstart programs with the Greensboro Symphony Orkidstra program.  In addition, she conducts the Greensboro Youth Philharmonic with the Greensboro Youth Symphony.  Colleen has been the concertmaster of the Danville Symphony, performs regularly throughout Virginia and North Carolina and continues to perform with the Greensboro Symphony where she has been a member since 2001.  She lives in Greensboro with her husband AJ and three daughters.

DIANE BONDS, cello faculty, comes to MANC with extensive teacher training and many years of teaching and performing experience. After receiving a BM from UNC-Chapel Hill and MM from the University of Texas at Austin, she completed All-Level Music Certification at the University of Houston and Suzuki Cello training from teachers across the country. One of the highlights was participating in 1999 at the International Suzuki Teachers Conference in Matsumoto, Japan. Up until 2005, most of Diane’s teaching was centered in Houston, TX. She taught for over 20 years at Parker Music Academy, a music magnet school, building the program from just a few to over 55 cello students. During that time her students were honored with the invitation to perform in both 1996 and 1998 for the National Suzuki Teachers Conference in Chicago. Former students have gone on to major music schools and conservatories including Curtis Institute and the Juilliard School, one student being a top prize winner in the 2001 Rostropovich Competition and the XII Tchaikovsky Competition in 2002. Returning to Greensboro in 2005, Diane first held an adjunct position at Greensboro College and now continues as teaching artist for the Community Music School at Appalachian Sate University. When not teaching in Texas or here in Greensboro, she freelances having performed in such orchestras as the Austin and Galveston Symphonies, Opera in the Heights in Houston, Opera Roanoke and Roanoke Symphony and the Greensboro Symphony.

THERESA FOX, a native of Greensboro, studied violin and viola performance at UNCG. The viola mentor for the Danville Symphony Orchestra for the past ten years, Theresa has also played with several other orchestras and ensembles in North Carolina and Virginia: notably, she is a member of the Danville String Quartet. Theresa also plays violin on the praise-and-worship team at We Are One Christian Fellowship. Theresa performed chamber music with MANC faculty a few years ago and currently performs with a piano Quintet in Greensboro.

STEVE LANDIS is an Adjunct Instructor at both The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Guilford College. He also teaches double bass and composition at the Music Academy of North Carolina. Steve is the bassist for the Winnfield Quartet and a section member of The Raleigh Symphony Orchestra. As a composer, Steve works with many mediums including solo instrumental, mixed chamber groups, large ensembles, digital and mixed media, as well as film and theater. As a double bassist, Steve performs in solo, chamber, and orchestral settings. Steve earned his DMA in Composition at The University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, an MM in Composition from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and an MM in Double Bass Performance and a BM in Composition from The University of Florida. Steve is a recipient of the Millay Colony, the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, and Wildacres Artist Retreat. https://slandismusic.com.

DR. RACHAEL KEPLIN is a violist and string pedagogue in Greensboro, North Carolina. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Viola Performance from the University of North Carolina Greensboro, a Master of Arts in string pedagogy from The Ohio State University, a Bachelor of Music in viola performance from Kennesaw State University, and is a registered Suzuki teacher.

Rachael is the viola artist and assistant director for Chamber Brews. She regularly performs with the Greensboro Symphony, North Charleston Pops, and North Carolina Opera. She is passionate about youth outreach and has served as an orchestral coach for the Greensboro and Columbus Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Rachael recently published her dissertation "Mindfulness and Free Improvisation: A Holistic Approach to Cultivating Creativity and Awareness" in May 2024. She is currently continuing research in free improvisation and is set to present her research at national conferences in the 2024-2025 academic year.

RUTH METHENY received her B.S. in Music Education on a full music scholarship in 1976 at Austin Peay State University, where she double majored in violin and piano. She and her husband, Gary, moved to Greensboro, where Ruth joined the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra. After teaching strings in the Guilford County School System, she received an Assistantship to attend Graduate School at UNCG, studying under Dr. David Moskovitz. Ruth received her Master’s Degree in Violin Performance in 1983, during which time she won an audition with the Winston-Salem Symphony. She has been the lead violinist of the Greensboro Symphony and Winston-Salem Symphony string education ensembles, developing educational programs and concerts for third- through fifth-grade elementary students. In 1983 Ruth attended Suzuki training in Steven’s Point, Wisconsin, and began her home private teaching with a studio of 24 students. She has taught violin technique to students through Suzuki Book 10. 

Ruth joined the faculty of the Music Academy of NC in 2013 where she continues to enjoy teaching and has been awarded Associate and Master Teacher status. She developed and presented the Fiddle Fun Program for string quartet that is currently lead by her, and performed with MANC string faculty, introducing Pre-K through second-grade students to string instruments and music in Title One Schools. During the Winter of 2020, she designed and developed a Children’s Concert program to be performed virtually for ages 4-8. This program is unique in that it involves MANC faculty playing Bass, Banjo, and Piano, along with Ruth playing Violin. 

She has held a variety of titled positions, including Principal First Violin and Associate Concertmaster of the Winston-Salem Symphony. Ruth has performed with many chamber ensembles, such as the Greensboro Chamber Players, Greensboro Symphony Chamber Orchestra, and the Carolina Chamber Symphony. She has performed solo and ensemble recordings with several local professional recording studios, including Ovation Sound and Kindermusik International. She has been the ground floor violinist for the start-up and continuation of the GSO/Cone Health CaringSounds program, performing various types of music for children of all ages from infancy to 17 years in the Pediatric Unit at Cone Hospital.

For students who already play violin but are wanting to work on specific techniques such as refining intonation, vibrato control, shifting, and various bowing skills, Ruth would be happy to teach those techniques to improve overall performance levels. 

She and her husband, Gary, have two daughters who also live in Greensboro.

SIERRA SIMS-SMITH grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio where she studied under Toby Goldstein and was a member of the Cincinnati Youth Symphony Orchestra. She received her Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance degree from Belmont University where she studied under Elisabeth Small. She received her Master of Music in Violin Performance degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where she studied under Marjorie Bagley.

Sierra has performed with the Wilmington Symphony, Western-Piedmont Symphony, Durham Symphony, Fayetteville Symphony, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Greensboro Opera, Lee County Community Orchestra (guest concertmaster), and The People’s Orchestra of Nashville. She frequently plays weddings and events in Ohio, Tennessee, North and South Carolina. She has performed musicals with Belmont University, UNC Greensboro, High Point University, and the Uwharrie Players.

Sierra has performed with artist SEAY in Star Event’s concert broadcast out of London as well as artists Sheryl Crow, CeCe Winans, and Michael W. Smith broadcast on PBS. She also recorded in Columbia Studio A in Nashville, Tennessee. 

Sierra’s recognitions include the Maestro Award at WorldStride’s Festival of Gold in NYC and soloist in Belmont University’s Instrumental Honors Recital.