Ryan Caparella serves on the violin and viola faculty of the Western Springs School of Talent Education and Naperville Suzuki School where he maintains a studio of students ages 3-18, leads the Viola Choir and co-directs the Summer Chamber Music Camp.  Prior to moving to Chicago, Ryan taught for the Elizabeth Faidley Studio in New York. 

Ryan holds Masters and Bachelors degrees in Violin Performance from the Hartt School of Music and University of Miami respectively, and has pursued extensive study in violin & viola pedagogy. Ryan completed his Long Term Training in Suzuki Pedagogy with Teri Einfeldt and has pursued additional pedagogy study with Edward Kreitman, Elizabeth Faidley, Thomas Wermuth, and Doris Preucil.  In 2013, Ryan was invited to present at the American String Teachers’ Association National Conference. In 2017, Ryan was a recipient of the Suzuki Association of America's Certificate of Achievement, a designation recognizing teachers with a commitment to life‐long learning and self‐improvement.

Derek Deakins is a violinist, fiddler, guitarist, and National Board Certified teacher originally from Kingsport, Tennessee.

Derek's musical journey began with Suzuki violin lessons as a young child and has taken him around the world as a professional musician. He has performed with major recording artists including Blake Shelton, The Osborne Brothers, and Miranda Lambert. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, and a Master of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting from East Carolina University.  Derek performs regularly with Gravel Road Bluegrass Band and Pinecastle recording artist Tim Raybon.  Additionally, Derek is a musician at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. ​

Teri Einfeldt is the Co-Chair of the String Department at The Hartt School Community Division of The University of Hartford, where she maintains a studio of students from ages 4 to 18. In her role as adjunct professor at The Hartt School, she instructs Master of Music candidates in Suzuki pedagogy. For more than thirty years, Ms. Einfeldt has been shaping these components into a program which is now considered a national model for teaching the Suzuki method within a university setting. In an effort to provide year-round opportunities in the greater Hartford area, in 1988 Ms. Einfeldt founded the Hartt Suzuki Institute, a weeklong summer workshop for children as well as teachers.

​

Born and raised in Kingston, New York, Ms. Einfeldt began her study of violin at the age of 7 in the public schools. As a child and growing musician, she enjoyed playing chamber music and participating in orchestra. While at Ithaca College, she studied violin with Thomas Michalak, and began Suzuki training with Sanford Reuning, one of a small group of educators who pioneered the Suzuki method in the United States.

​

A Suzuki Association of the Americas registered teacher trainer, Ms. Einfeldt is a frequent clinician at weekend string workshops and summer Suzuki Institutes throughout the United States and Canada. She has participated and presented at several international conferences of the Suzuki Association of the Americas, at the Pan Pacific Suzuki Conference in Sydney, Australia, and at Suzuki World Conferences in Turin, Italy and Matsumoto, Japan. In addition to her busy teaching, training, and lecturing schedule, Ms. Einfeldt continues to be an active performer. A devoted chamber musician, she also plays frequently with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. She is the former Assistant Concert-mistress of both the Northeast Pennsylvania Philharmonic and the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra. Not surprisingly, Ms. Einfeldt has designed the Hartt Suzuki program to offer ample opportunities for students to participate in the orchestra and chamber music activities that she has always loved. She delights in beginning young quartets and developing them through high school.

​

In July 2011, Teri ended her position as chair of the Suzuki Association of America after being a board member for several years. She continues to be an active member of the Association. She has also served as Chair of the Teacher Development Committee and the Suzuki Principles in Action (SPA) Committee.

Eugenio Figueroa is a registered Suzuki teacher in Violin, Viola, and Piano with the Suzuki Association of the Americas. Eugenio currently serves as faculty at Hartt Community Division and assistant to the director at the Music School at Sound Crossing. As a violist, Eugenio is a doctoral candidate at The Hartt School of Music. Eugenio's commitment to the Suzuki philosophy brought him to Connecticut from Puerto Rico, where he did his Masters in Performance Degree and Suzuki Long Term Training.

New Zealand born, North Carolina raised musician Tarra Guerra is trained in Suzuki violin and guitar, with a long-time active teaching studio in the greater Fort Lauderdale and surrounding tri-county areas. Tarra conducts the Alpha Strings for the Florida Youth Orchestra and serves on the Board of that organization as the teacher representative. An active member of the board of the Suzuki Association of South Florida and the current Vice President, she is energetic in the organization of workshops, graduation recitals and other community events. She was Adjunct Professor of Guitar (and Violin when needed) at Nova Southeastern University prior to the Covid years, but now prefers to fill her Suzuki studio with wonderful people of all ages Like all of us, Tarra is extremely happy that the world of music is back in person, celebrating this with an active performance schedule of several live solo and ensemble classical concerts every year, along with performances with her students and their parents at the South Florida Bluegrass Association festivals or benefit performances for the whole studio in several venues.

​

As a child, Tarra studied classical guitar at the North Carolina School of the Arts with Jesus Silva, a protégé and student of Andres Segovia.  As a young teen in New Zealand, while studying with Belgian concert guitarist Emile Bibobi, Tarra won the Open category of the New Zealand National Guitar competition. When her son grew up and left home, she returned to college, gaining a Master of Music in classical guitar performance at Florida Atlantic University, minoring in violin and composition. While at FAU, she was concertmaster of the FAU Symphony, teacher of the early level Guitar Ensemble class, Head Orchestra Librarian, and wrote for and played in all concerts of the FAU Composition Studio.

​

Tarra Guerra performs classical music extensively in venues ranging from small groups to international festivals, both as a solo artist and in with several chamber ensembles including Synergies (piano/guitar duo), the Middle Earth Trio (Classical Guitar), and Diverse Duets (violin, viola and guitar in various combinations). The Miami Herald described her playing as “expert and sensitive”. Tarra can be seen playing in several editions of the Virtual Guitar Orchestra, which can be found on YouTube. Due to skills gained by necessity during the Covid lockdown, she now knows how to edit video, (a skill gained only because she loves her students so much), and has a youtube channel of her own which includes several genres of music made over many decades. She is currently working on a Diverse Duet concert and a solo program of 21st Century Classical Guitar which includes some of her own compositions. She plans to perform the solo program in the summer of 2023 in several states and in Canada.

​

Tarra has completed extensive Suzuki training through the SAA, as seen here, as well as a great deal of teacher training from various other disciplines. She loves Waldorf schools, dancing, swimming, sailing, camping, fidding, composing, songwriting and singing. She loves her spouse, family, friends and students, and is overwhelmingly grateful to have the best job in the world.

​

For those interested, there was a decade-long segue into the world of science, as Tarra gained a Masters in chemistry from the University of Auckland while performing extensively as a traditional folk singer and bicycle touring the South Island, worked in New Jersey as a research chemist, then spent some years helping to manage a unique artists’ paint business in New York City’s East Village while pursuing rock stardom, performing original rock or in every club in the city and in Seattle, with a few country performances in Nashville and Florida as well, then did some extensive teaching and tutoring of math, chemistry and physics at levels from middle school through college in New York then Florida and, of course, raising a beautiful child who wanted to play the violin. Her students know that she can be temporarily diverted by gleefully straying into the world of mathematics while teaching music.

​

Having now left three serious careers in turn to focus completely on music, she is happy to have realized that playing and teaching music is the only lifework for her! Now Tarra brings an extensive folk, pop, country and rock background to her teaching and to her love of classical music, playing in several styles on both guitar and violin.

Teresa Hakel has been teaching Suzuki violin and viola since 1996 in public and private schools, the University of Houston and in a private studio. She currently teaches Suzuki violin at Parker Elementary, Houston’s music magnet elementary school. She has had Suzuki teacher training classes with teachers from across the nation, as well as long term teacher training with Judy Offman in Houston, TX, and has served as director of the Waterford Community Talent Education program, president of the Houston Area Suzuki Strings Association (HASSA), and founding president of the Richmond Area Suzuki Strings Association (RASSA).

Her principal teachers include Yitzhak Schotten and Lawrence Wheeler. A graduate with honors of the University of Michigan (BM) and the University of Houston (MM), Teresa has performed with orchestras and chamber ensembles in Michigan, Texas, and Virginia, enjoys playing Irish and other folk music, and performs throughout Texas with contra dance bands. Her husband, Steve, is a performing violinist and she has two children who also love to play and listen to music. When she is not teaching or playing, Teresa loves to travel, cook and eat.

Kristen Harris is a violinist, fiddler, and educator currently residing in Columbia, SC. She is the Violin Coordinator and violin instructor at the Suzuki Academy of Columbia, and adjunct professor of Violin Pedagogy and String Methods at the University of South Carolina.

Kristen began her musical career as a Suzuki violin student and became passionate about performing and collaborating with musicians of various genres at a very young age. She received her Bachelor of Music degree with honors at the University of Oregon, where she studied with Fritz Gearhart, and earned her Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of South Carolina, where she studied with Dr. William Terwilliger and taught at the USC String Project under the direction of Dr. Gail Barnes. Kristen has been teaching Suzuki violin since 2008, and has taught grades 6-8 orchestra in the public schools. With a current studio of about 20 students ranging in age from 4-18, her students regularly participate in regional and all-state youth orchestras and have won prestigious fiddle competitions such as the SC State Fiddling Championship, Galax Old Fiddler’s Convention, and Mount Airy Bluegrass & Old-Time Fiddlers Convention.

When not teaching, you can find Kristen performing with her Americana group Boomtown Trio, or the Hot Club Jazz band Flat Out Strangers. A multi-instrumentalist and improvising string player, she is an active freelance musician around the Southeast and performs and records regularly as a solo artist and with ensembles ranging in style from classical and jazz, to old time, bluegrass, pop and rock, and has toured across the United States and in the United Kingdom. She is the two-time South Carolina State Fiddle Champion (2013, 2019), the Jasper Magazine 2019 Artist of the Year, and was featured in the Summer 2020 Edition of Fiddler Magazine for the release of her solo old time fiddle album “Borger Wiggle.”

Angela Holguin is an award-winning musician, specializing in cello and piano. She has performed professionally for more than 35 years and worked to educate others for more than a quarter century.  She studied at Western Illinois University and Columbus State University, receiving a master's degree in performance from the former in 2014 and a bachelor's degree in performance from the latter in 1999. She is currently finishing her doctorate in cello, her master’s degree in piano pedagogy, and a certificate in nonprofit management, all at the University of Georgia.

As a teacher, Angela has a remarkable ability to connect with students, developing a rapport that allows her to communicate both fundamentals and the nuances of advanced technique. In addition to teaching at the Conservatory of Puerto Rico for their summer Suzuki programs, she was a professor at the Dominican Republic's National Conservatory of Music from 2000 to 2012, and during that time she established the country's first Suzuki cello program. Her passion for helping those in need drove her to create the Fundación Gisela Dominicana, which provides music education and performance opportunities for children from low-income families. In 2013, along with her husband, violinist Hermes Mejia, she launched the Almita Vamos Violin Competition, which brought gifted string students to Western Illinois University for study and performance. She also worked to find funding for talented Dominican music students to study abroad. Throughout her life, she has maintained a private studio as well, and her students have been very successful, many going on to become professional musicians themselves. She has Suzuki certifications in both cello and piano. 

As a performer, she made her debut as a pianist at the National Theatre of the Dominican Republic in 1987. After she finished her undergraduate work with world-renowned cello pedagogue, Martha Gerschefski, she returned to give a solo recital in cello. In 1997, she was awarded the UNESCO Mozart Medal and has since been nominated twice to Brugal Cree en su Gente award for her social works through the arts. She has been a cellist in the National Symphony Orchestra of the Dominican Republic since 2004, and her performances have taken her from the beautiful halls of Europe and South America to the iconic stage of Carnegie Hall. Outside the symphony, she enjoys playing cello in a wide variety of styles, both as an ensemble player and as a soloist, and she has made a reputation as one of the most sensitive and emotive chamber musicians in Atlanta for her work in both piano and cello. In addition, she has made time to pursue her love of the organ, and has served as the organist and pianist of several congregations in the United States. 

Angela lives in Duluth with her husband and four kids, all of whom are musicians themselves. Angela’s empathy draws her to those in need, and because of this she has also made time to volunteer with Angels Among Us, an animal rescue non-profit, and happily shares her home with her four cats and two dogs.

Pablo Issa performs chamber music internationally. He is also the principal cellist of the Hartford Independent Chamber Orchestra. As an educator, Mr. Issa received Long-Term Suzuki Training at the School for Strings in New York City with Pamela Devenport, and completed his pedagogic studies with Carey Cheney and Nancy Hair.  Mr. Issa taught at the Community School of the Arts at UConn Storrs, the Suzuki Music School of Westport, and Kids Empowered by Your Support in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Currently, he teaches cello and chamber music at The Hartt School Community Division. Pablo Issa holds a Post-High School Graduate Diploma from Interlochen Arts Academy, a Bachelor of Music in Performance from Baldwin-Wallace College, and both a Master of Music Performance and a Graduate Professional Diploma from The Hartt School. His education was made possible thanks to the support of Fundación Arnoldo Schwimmer of Mr. Issa’s native country, Bolivia.

Edward Kreitman is the founder and Director of the Western Springs School of Talent Education and the Naperville Suzuki School. Mr. Kreitman received his undergraduate degree from Western Illinois University where he studied Suzuki Pedagogy with Doris Preucil and Almita Vamos. In 1986, he studied at the Talent Education Summer School with Dr. Suzuki in Matsumoto, Japan. 

​

Mr. Kreitman has served the Suzuki Teacher's Association in many capacities, including a member of the Board of Directors, Violin Committee, Teacher Development team and as Coordinator for several National Suzuki Teacher Conferences. Recently he served on the SAA team which developed the Every Child Can! introductory course. Edward Kreitman enjoys an international reputation as a guest clinician at Suzuki institutes and workshops. Mr. Kreitman is a registered Teacher Trainer of the Suzuki Association of the Americas and is the author of Teaching from the Balance Point: A Guide for Suzuki Parents, Teachers, and Students and Teaching with an Open Heart: A Guide for Developing Conscious Musicianship. In 2008, Mr. Kreitman was honored with the Suzuki Chair Award at the American Suzuki Institute in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.