Josephine J. is a recent college graduate of Duke University. She has lived in Houston, Texas since the third grade and has been playing the violin since she was six years old. She attended Frostwood Elementary School, where she played with the Frostwood Fiddlers. As a Suzuki Method student, she started taking private lessons with Dolce Strings, and later with graduate students at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. She was an orchestra student at Memorial Middle School through Memorial High School and participated in Region and State Orchestras. She performed with the Houston Youth Symphony for seven years and was a first violinist in their Symphony Orchestra for her last two years of high school.
She has attended several summer music festivals, including Sound Encounters (KS), Heartland Chamber Music Festival (KS), Killington Music Festival (VT), and Encore Summer Academy (OH). In recent years she has engaged with the Duke Chamber Music Department as a violinist for the Stretto Quartet for one year and the Daphnis, Chloé et Aram piano trio for three. Her piano trio was available for event bookings and public outreach performances. She received regular coaching by professors and worldwide performers Caroline Stinson, Hsiao-Mei Ku, and Gabriel Richard. She participated in the pilot program ‘Meeting the World Through Chamber Music’ and visited the New England Conservatory of Music in the Duke Arts Exchange Program.
In addition to her music studies, she enjoys volunteering as a music therapist and teacher. In High School, she brought the Music and Memory program, a national non-profit organization that provides personalized musical experiences to patients with degenerative neurologic disorders, to local nursing homes in Houston. Engaging a patient with dementia in sessions of listening improves mood, activates cognition, and increases engagement and communication. The program continues under new leadership at Memorial Senior High School. In college, she volunteered weekly as a music instructor for elementary through high school students with the local organization KidzNotes.
Josephine has experience teaching group and private lessons to violinists of all ages and levels. She feels extremely grateful to her instructors and peers that have guided her through her music career. She is excited to give back her experiences and gifts to her students. Whether you’re just starting or auditioning for state competitions, she’s happy to meet students where they are. She feels that with a love for music, any of your goals as a violinist can be achieved!