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| Bio | |
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Ann
Montzka-Smelser began her violin studies with her father at the age
of three. She later studied at the Oberlin College Talent Education
program with Kazuko Numanami then in Glen Ellyn,Illinois with Rebecca
Sandrok. During college Ann studied violin and viola with the late Pierre
Menard of the Vermeer Quartet. In between receiving her Bachelors in
Music Education and Masters in Perormance and Pedagogue, Ann studied
with Dr. Shinichi Suzuki at the Talent Education Institute in Matsumoto,
Japan. Ann was first prize winner in the Blanch Ellis Concerto Competiton
and in June 2003, recieved the Byron Hester Outstanding Teacher Award.
Ann has toured extensively with the Ruggieri String Quartet under Columbia
Artist Manegement. She has held principal positions in the Rockford,
Fox Valley and Illinois Valley Symphonies and is currently the concertmaster
of the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
Ann is on the music faculty at Nothern Illinois University during the school year and is on faculty at the Colorado Suzuki and Chamber Music Institute at Snowmass and the Chicago Suzuki Institute in the summer months. Ann is also the Director of NIU' s Community School of the Arts violin program. Ann lives in DeKalb, Illinois with her husband, Linc Smelser and their two children Genevieve and Benjamin. |
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