About Julie: The Official and Unofficial Bios

The Almost Totally Professional Bio

A native of Des Moines, Iowa, Julie began violin study in 1975 with James Brauninger. Later, as a student of Cheryl Kutscher, she was a four-year member of the Iowa All-State Orchestra (from WDM Valley). After a lengthy break from music, Julie returned to school as an adult. She holds a B.Mus. (UT-Chattanooga), where she studied with Donald Zimmer; and a MA, Music (Northern Iowa), where she studied with Frederick Halgedahl. Over the years, Julie has performed in masterclasses for the late John Kendall, Bill and Doris Preucil, Bill Starr, Daniel Heifetz (Heifetz Institute), Peter McGuire (Minnesota Orchestra), and Ray Shows (Artaria Quartet). She also completed a bit of post-graduate work in musicology at the University of Iowa.

Julie began teaching violin in 1993. An active member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas for nearly twenty years, Julie has SAA-registered training in Suzuki philosophy, repertoire and pedagogy. Because of her successful use of webcam technology, Julie has had the opportunity to work with students all over the United States and Canada. She has also taught violin and viola for Cadek Conservatory, Central School of the Arts, and the Cedar Rapids Symphony School, as well as her own home studios in Kentucky, Tennessee, Kansas and Iowa.

As an orchestral violinist, Julie has been a member of the Chattanooga, Topeka and Paducah (KY) Symphonies. She is often called to sub, most recently with the Fort Dodge Symphony; she has also subbed with the Waverly (IA) and Lexington (KY) Community Orchestras, Dubuque Symphony, and Rome (GA) Symphony. Currently, Julie is a violist with the Des Moines Community Orchestra and Central Iowa Symphony. She also serves on the CIS board of directors and is a member of the Sigma Alpha Iota Philanthropies String Grant committee.

Things That Do Not Belong In A Professional Bio

Julie plays violin and viola. Or rather, maybe they play her. She's not sure. All she really knows is that it's fun. After 35 years of having fun playing violin, viola is much more fun right now, especially when fighting over who gets to play viola in string quartets. (Spoiler alert: most of the time, it's not Julie.) Julie is an INTJ, which means that she's not terribly good at networking because she likes to observe and listen. This is ironic because Julie's first college major was marketing. She seems to attract a lot of lesson trolls and spam -- not the kind in a can made from indeterminate pork scraps -- and spends more time dealing with it (and the trolls) than she spends teaching. Spam is not fun, although it can be very educational and provides excellent material for blogging. Julie would, however, rather be having her fun teaching and performing. So, if you're thinking about lessons, Julie welcomes your (not spam-laden) inquiries and commitments to join in the fun of violin or viola lessons.

Julie's non-musical fun includes trolling the internet (but not being a troll), playing with food, dirt, and power tools, and laughing at the antics of husband/computer wizard dude Pat, six-year-old son Eric, and Purrcy the cat.