Middle School

Violist/violinist KC Still is active as a teacher and performer. She is currently on the faculty at The Crowden Center as a Suzuki and Traditional violin/viola teacher, and teaches at her Home Studio in Albany, CA. She teaches all ages and abilities, but specializes in working with children. Since moving to the Bay Area, she has been on the faculty of the Napa Valley Language Academy, Sycamore Strings Academy in Livermore, and Holy Names University in Oakland. She is a member of the board of SANC, the Suzuki Association of Northern California.

Yefim Maizel has directed and assisted in the former Soviet Union, in Europe, in Japan and in the United States at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington Opera, Kirov Opera, Wexford Opera Festival, Saito Kinen Festival and Opera Santa Barbara. Since 1999, Mr. Maizel has worked as a Guest Stage Director for the Metropolitan Opera where, among other productions, in 2004 he directed Madama Butterfly with Placido Domingo conducting. He also directed The Merry Widow at the Opera Santa Barbara and Little Women, The Impresario and the U.S. Premier of Handel's "Silla" for BASOTI.

I am an active performer and teacher with a large class of private students as well as students at The San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

I have played and recorded with Jefferson Starship, Sly and the Family Stone, Mickey Hart, Jerry Garcia, Robert Hunter, The Grateful Dead, and many others. I am currently playing bass in the Mill Valley Philharmonic, and playing sax and bass free lance. I am also a composer and arranger.

Sarah Holzman performs regularly in chamber music recitals and with symphony and opera orchestras around the Bay Area and beyond. She is a regular substitute with the Berkeley, Silicon Valley, California, Stockton, Marin, Santa Cruz, and Napa Symphonies, among others. Sarah's interest in new music has also brought her to Other Minds, Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics, UC Berkeley and Public Radio's Echoes. Sarah attended the Oberlin and San Francisco Conservatories; her primary teachers were Michel Debost and Tim Day.

I am interested in the structure of music and the intentions of composers and in finding ways to communicate to listeners an understanding of those elements. Practice is a means to strengthen the connection between mind and body through self-awareness. Performance is a gateway to the minds of great composers through their creations. If such things interest you, let's get to work!

A native of Atlanta, GA, Robert began studying cello at age 12.
Graduate of Rice University and San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
He has studied and performed at festivals such as Tanglewood, Spoleto,
Verbier, the Accademia Chigiana, and the Sandor Vegh Academy in Prague.
Robert won first prize in the Rome Festival Competition and has
received grants from the Maggini and Virtu Foundations. Locally, he
has performed with American Bach Soloists, New Century Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque,
and the San Francisco Symphony.

I love teaching and exploring how each individual student learns best. I think that the learning process is fascinating regardless of the level of the student. I will push you if that is what you want, but for those who have no thoughts of a career in music, I can keep it fun and an enjoyable hobby. I am proud of the fact that I have students who have stayed with me over the course of decades.

Frank Longay, classical guitarist and educator, is a founding member and chairman of both the Guitar Committee of the International Suzuki Association and the Guitar Committee for the Suzuki Association of the Americas. He has studied with Rey de la Torre and George Sakellariou.

I've lived in the East Bay since 2002 with my wife and two children. Since then I've kept a very intimate studio of cellists aged 7-65. Due to my travel schedule, I've been only able to work with a small number of students. I hope to expand the studio this year in order to stay home with my family!