Alisa is a member of the Real Vocal String Quartet and Quartet San Francisco, who was nominated for a Grammy in 2009 for their album "QSF plays Brubeck".
Alisa has performed at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Blue Highway Festival in Utrecht, Netherlands, on PBS "Song of the Mountains", and in Carnegie Hall. With 49 Special she won the 2009 Rockygrass Band Competition.
Music has always been a big part of my life with both teaching and performing. I enjoy conveying my musical knowledge to those that are eager to learn, for self-enrichment or with a professional goal in mind.
I enjoy teaching students of all ages and ability levels, provided that they are highly motivated to make progress. I have had success with starting kids out on bassoon, teaching on the high school and college levels, and I am in demand by professionals for pre-audition coaching. I have given master classes throughout the world.
My teaching is a rigorous mix of objective (technical), and subjective (musical). I have put much thought into how to express sometimes illusive ideas in specific terms.
India Cooke, violinist, composer and educator, plays a wide range of music from classical to jazz. India has performed in San Francisco Bay Area symphony and opera orchestras, chamber ensembles, and Broadway shows. As one of California's most respected contract artists, she has performed as featured soloist with Joe Williams and the Louie Bellson Orchestra, and has played with Sarah Vaughn, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra and many others. Her continuing jazz and improvisation experiences include performances with Pharoah Sanders, Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, Pauline Oliveros and many others.
Tyler Lewis, Violinist, received his B.A. from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music while under the instruction of Bettina Mussumeli. Previous instructors include Nathan Rubin, Concert Master of Oakland East Bay Symphony, and Eric Hansen, professor at Cal State Hayward. Specializing in Baroque and Modern music, Tyler has appeared in groups such as Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, Santa Rosa Symphony, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and has performed at Festival De Sole in the Napa Valley and St. Paul's International Chamber Music Festival.
I've been teaching in the Bay Area since 1972 and maintain a studio in North Berkeley close to the North Berkeley BART station. My class includes school-age children at all levels and committed adults, both avocational and professional. I hold monthly performance workshops for my school-age students and bimonthly gatherings for my adults. I am familiar with the Taubman technical approach and the Suzuki method and repertoire, although I am not a Suzuki teacher per se. My approach with young children is both rigorous and fun.
I have been living in the Bay Area since 2000. I perform with local opera companies, chamber orchestras, and festivals, and collaborate with Bay Area composers in premiering new works.
As a member of the Pacific Mozart Ensemble, I have collaborated with music legends Meredith Monk, Dave Brubeck, and Bobby McFerrin, and am a founding member of Opera Frontier, an innovative song and dance troupe that pushes the boundaries and challenges the stereo-types of opera.
I have taught voice for the last 30 years while doing a career in performing. I have sung in regional houses throughout the U.S. including Arizona, Utah, Cincinnati, Lancaster, San Francisco Pocket opera, and Eugene Opera companies to name a few, and soloed in Israel with the Jerusalem Symphony. I was a Metropolitan Opera finalist and have several other competition winnings. I enjoy performing, but my real passion is teaching. My students have won full scholorships to BYU Universties, Bob Jones University, New England Conservatory, and Florida State.
Robert Britton graduated as an Alexander Technique teacher in 1978. In addition to his private practice in San Francisco and Marin County, he has taught the Alexander Technique to musicians at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music since 1984. He served as chairman of the American Society for the Alexander Technique from 1997 to 1999. He has helped train Alexander Technique teachers since 1989, and teaches at the Alexander Educational Center in Berkeley. He regularly teaches in Berlin at the Ausbildungszentrum fur F.M.
Studied Piano from age 6, Harp from age 15. Attended Interlochen Arts Academy studying harp with Elisa Smith Dickon. Attended Cleveland Institute of Music studying harp with Alice Chalifoux. Principal Harp of the Indianapolis Symphony from 1975-1981, Principal Harp of the San Francisco Symphony since 1981. Harp Instructor at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music sine 2007. Harp Coach of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra since 1981.