TEACHERS AND STAFF
Piano || Violin and Viola || Cello || Flute || Electives & Accompanists
VIOLIN AND VIOLA
Martha Bruce Ellerman (violin)
Martha grew up in Vermont and started playing the violin at age 6. She was a member of Vermont Suzuki Violins all throughout her childhood, as well as the Vermont Youth Orchestra. Martha graduated with a Masters of Music in violin performance and pedagogy from the Peabody Conservatory, and a Bachelor of Music in violin performance from the University of Maryland.
Martha is a teacher with Vermont Suzuki Violins, and maintains a very fun and busy teaching schedule in Hinesburg, Vermont. She and her husband have two children, one corgi, and one cat.
Rachel Keyser (violin)
Rachel Keyser, a Suzuki trained violinist from Vermont, started playing at the age of six. She began private and group lessons with Pam Reit, and later studied under Ira Morris and Evelyn Read. Rachel participated regularly in Vermont ensembles, and played with the Vermont Youth Orchestra.
Rachel attended the University of Vermont while beginning her teaching at the Richmond Elementary School through the Green Mountain Strings program. She also attended the Suzuki Institute for teachers at Indiana University before deciding she wanted to purse Music Education. She completed her Suzuki Teaching Certificate Denver University while studying under James Maurer.
In 2008 she moved home to Vermont and began teaching private violin lessons full time. She teaches group lessons weekly with Vermont Suzuki Violins. In 2021 she became a teacher for the O.N.E Strings program at IAA which is funded by the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival. With this program, she is able to teach violin group class to 3rd-5th graders during their school hours twice a week. She is an active member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas, and has been teaching at Green Mountain Suzuki Summer Camp for many years. Rachel also specializes in music classes for 0-3year olds after receiving her certification at the Hartt School of Music. She enjoys teaching both young kids and adults, and has also kept her love of playing music alive with various musical groups and friends around the area. She’s played in several bands, and has been on a handful of recorded albums. She lives in South Burlington, Vermont with her husband and daughter. Her other interests include yoga, being in the woods, skiing and golf, and enjoying musical theater.
Alicia Casey (violin, viola)
received her B.M. from the QLD Conservatorium of Music, Australia where she was a student of Elizabeth Morgan and her M.M. from the UMASS, Amherst where she was a student of Elizabeth Chang. Alicia has performed with orchestras, quartets and as a soloist throughout the United States, Australia and Europe. Alicia grew up as a Suzuki student and has completing formal Suzuki teacher training in Books 1-10 across the USA. Alicia currently lives in New Hampshire with her husband Ben and two children, and is the Suzuki program coordinator and the director of the Advanced Performance Ensemble at the Upper Valley Music Center in Lebanon, NH where she has been teaching since 2010.
Amanda Milne (violin, viola)
Amanda grew up in Williston, Vermont and joined Vermont Suzuki Violins at age five. She graduated from Lawrence University with a Bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance. Amanda holds a Master’s degree in Violin Performance with an Emphasis in Suzuki Pedagogy from the Hartt School of Music, where she studied violin with Katie Lansdale and received Suzuki teacher training from Teri Einfeldt.
Amanda currently teaches at Ridgefield Suzuki School, in Connecticut. For many summers, Amanda attended Ithaca Suzuki Institute as well as GMSI! As a child, her favorite part of the week was attending group class and chamber music rehearsals! Amanda is passionate about creating a nurturing environment and sharing her love for music with children. Outside of music, Amanda enjoys practicing yoga, spending time with family and friends, and she loves dogs!
Gretchen Judge (violin, viola, Orchestra 1)
Gretchen has taught strings in New York, Vermont and New Hampshire. She holds an MM in Music Education from Ithaca College. In addition to her private studio in Rochester, NY, Gretchen is the co-founder and musical director of Strings for Success, a non-profit program which brings violin lessons into the inner city schools in Rochester NY. She is a mother of three boys who study Suzuki piano and play hockey.
Dan Santelices
(violin, viola, Orchestra 2)
is a faculty member of Centenary(College of Louisiana) Suzuki School in Shreveport, Louisiana. He has received teacher-training from such SAA luminaries Ronda Cole, Teri Einfeldt, Carrie Reuning-Hummel and Hiroko Driver, as well as continuing to learn year-after-year from his fabulous GMSI colleagues. Mr. Santelices has been the Violin/Viola Professor at Asbury College in Wilmore, Kentucky, Master-Teacher for the University of Kentucky String Project and Instructor of Violin and Chamber Music at Northwestern State University of Louisiana in Natchitoches. He is Founder- Director of the Centenary Chamber Music Summer Program (formerly the Ark-La-Tex Youth Symphony Orchestra Chamber Music Program). He also manages a career as an active orchestral musician/ performer with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, the Baroque Artists of Shreveport and Assistant Concertmaster for the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra.
Lisa Lederer (violin)
Owner and Director of the Cambridge Suzuki Violins, located at the Cambridge Music Consortium in Cambridge MA. Her students have performed in local venues such as Symphony Hall, the Boston Children’s Museum, at local events such as the WGBH Cartoon Festival, the Harvard Square May Fair and have performed the National Anthem for the Boston Celtics. Active in the MA Suzuki community, she is a Board member of Suzuki:MA and is a past Director of the Massachusetts Suzuki Festival, past President and past Membership Secretary of Suzuki:MA and has also served on the Suzuki:MA violin committee. In addition to teaching in her private studio, Ms. Lederer is on the faculty of the Rivers School of Music in Weston, MA, and the Somerville Public Schools String Camp. She is a former faculty member and Director of the Longy School of Music Suzuki Program, the New School of Music and the Bedford Public Schools after school string program.
Jessica McNamara (violin)
Jessica McNamara is a violin and viola teacher and the director at Ridgefield Suzuki School. Jessica founded Ridgefield Suzuki School in 2016 and now oversees the program of over 140 students in violin, viola, cello, piano and flute. Jessica began violin at the age of 6 in a Suzuki program in her elementary school in Queens, NY. After playing violin throughout her childhood, Jessica went to Providence College on a full scholarship and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Music Education. She also holds a Masters Degree in Music Education from the Hartt School of Music. Jessica has done Suzuki training with Ed Kreitman, Kirsten Marshall, Mark Mutter, Teri Einfeldt, James Hutchins, Sue Baer and Nancy Jackson. Jessica taught middle school orchestra in the Westport public schools in CT for 11 years and later went on to found the Ridgefield Suzuki School. Jessica and her colleagues at Ridgefield Suzuki School enjoy inspiring children as young as 3 years old to begin playing violin, viola, cello or piano and continue to make music an important part of their lives as they grow into adults. Since 2009, Jessica has been a conductor with the esteemed Norwalk Youth Symphony. Jessica also conducts with the Fairfield County Summer String Orchestra, a three-tiered summer orchestra program she and her husband founded in 2009. Having lived all three sides of the Suzuki Triangle, Jessica is also mother to a 10 year old cellist and 13 year old violinist.
Pam Reit (violin, viola, Artistic Director)
has a Bachelor of Music from Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and a Masters of Music from Rice University in Houston. She has been a Suzuki teacher since 1986 and has taught at workshops and Institutes all over the country. In 1992 she created Vermont Suzuki Violins which provides weekly Suzuki Group classes and chamber music coaching, as well as many performances and special events. Pam was the 2012 winner of the Suzuki Association of the Americas "Creating Community Award." Pam teaches private students at home in Hinesburg, Vermont. Pam is married to violinist Ira Morris and they have two daughters and one very old cat.