About Me
I love the feeling of community and camaraderie that comes from singing and playing music with others. I loved learning songs in school, listening to BBC radio programs for schools. Violin lessons were provided for us in that same primary (elementary) school. I sang in children's choirs. As a teenager and young adult, I played in school orchestras and community orchestras, attending music camps all over Britain and Ireland. My violin teacher, Alice Billette, played in the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. She emphasised the importance of listening well and figuring out how to fix things in practice.
As a young elementary school classroom teacher: Music was a required part of the curriculum. The children had to know their tonic solfa (solfege) and it was expected that they would be taught the hymns for the weekly school assembly. I earned the respect of some of my wild boy students when they learned I played in a country band that had a drummer no less! They were not quite as impressed with my playing in the Edinburgh Festival or the Carnegie Festival of Music and the Arts, but they did behave in my class and as an end of year treat I brought our band in to play at the school.
When I began concentrating on fiddle music, I found that much of the music was already familiar to me. It was in all those songs in school and at home, and it propelled me on the dance floor at every ceilidh (party), wedding, and family gathering I ever attended.
My husband, Bruce, was a classical pianist. My son, Kevin, is a jazz drummer in Ann Arbor, Michingan, and my daughter Fiona plays violin/fiddle and viola. She also studied vocal performance at Central Washington University.
As a young elementary school classroom teacher: Music was a required part of the curriculum. The children had to know their tonic solfa (solfege) and it was expected that they would be taught the hymns for the weekly school assembly. I earned the respect of some of my wild boy students when they learned I played in a country band that had a drummer no less! They were not quite as impressed with my playing in the Edinburgh Festival or the Carnegie Festival of Music and the Arts, but they did behave in my class and as an end of year treat I brought our band in to play at the school.
When I began concentrating on fiddle music, I found that much of the music was already familiar to me. It was in all those songs in school and at home, and it propelled me on the dance floor at every ceilidh (party), wedding, and family gathering I ever attended.
My husband, Bruce, was a classical pianist. My son, Kevin, is a jazz drummer in Ann Arbor, Michingan, and my daughter Fiona plays violin/fiddle and viola. She also studied vocal performance at Central Washington University.
My Credentials & Teaching Experience
. Performer: Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, Edinburgh Festival, Scotland, 2019
- Teacher/Performer: Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp, 2002-2023
- Teacher/Performer: Spanish Peaks Colorado Traditional Music Festival, 2008-2017
- Continuing Education: Valley of the Moon Scottish fiddle school, 2012, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014
- Continuing Education: Juilliard School of Music, Starling-DeLay Symposium, 2017
- M.Ed., Lesley University, 2001
- B.Mus.Ed., The University of Michigan, 1991
- Degree in Primary Education, Hamilton college of Education, Scotland, 1972
- Suzuki in the Schools training with Dr. Laurie Scott & William Dick, 2008
- Pre-Twinkle, Bks 1 – 4, Suzuki violin teacher training w/Linda Fiore, Ellie Albers-LeRoux, '98, '07, '08
- Skandia (Scandinavian) music and dance camp, Mendocino, CA, 201
- Alasdair Fraser's Sierra Fiddle Music Camp, Sacramento, CA, June 2011
- Shetland fiddling with Dr. Tom Anderson, Stirling University, Scotland, 1979
- North East fiddling with Bill Hardie, Aberdeen, Scotland, 1982
- Elementary Classroom Teacher, Scotland, 1972 – 1979
- Music Educator, K – 5, Mountain View Elem., Longmont, 1998 - 2012
- Pinewoods (MA) Scottish Dance Camp - dance musician, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1995
- Teacher: Alasdair Fraser’s Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddle Music Camp, 1996
- Clinician, Suzuki Association of America
- Clinician, Suzuki Association of Colorado
- Clinician, American String Teachers Association
- Clinician, Central Washington University
- Clinician, St Vrain Valley School District
- Clinician, La Vita School District
- Certified National Judge for Scottish fiddle championship competitions