Violin

Ching-Yi Lin

Dr. Ching-Yi Lin is Assistant Professor of Music (Violin) and the Director of The Pre-College Strings Program at Western Kentucky University.  An active solo and chamber musician, she has performed in the United States, Canada, Europe, China, and Taiwan.

Lin was appointed Associate Instructor of Violin at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (IU) in 2008 while working as a teaching assistant to Professor Mauricio Fuks.  At the pre-college level, she has taught as an instructor for the IU String Academy, working closely with her mentors Professor Mimi Zweig and Dr. Brenda Brenner.  In 2008-2009, Lin acted as co-researcher, violin instructor, and piano accompanist for the Fairview Project – a research project designed to assess how underprivileged children can benefit academically and socially from learning the violin.

During the summer months, Lin serves as faculty at the Summer String Academy and Retreat for Professional Violinists and Violists at IU, and the Sommersymfonien i Kristiansand in Norway.  Lin earned her BM, MM, and DM in Violin Performance at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and studied in the Vienna Conservatory from 2001–2003. Her principal teachers include Mauricio Fuks, Boris Kuschnir, Fredell Lack, and Nelli Shkolnikova.  She plays on a violin made in 1863 by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume.

Cello

Sarah Berry

Sarah Berry has been on the music faculty oat Western Kentucky University since 2005. In her time at WKU, she has been involved in many areas of string education – teaching and developing the Bowling Green City and Warren County Public School Strings Program, directing WKU's Summer String Explosion Camp, founding the Symphony String Contest, and performing as Principal Cellist with the Symphony and the Baker Chamber Players. Passionate about string education, Sarah is a frequent guest adjudicator and conductor for area string programs. An active chamber musician, Sarah is a founding member of the cello / percussion duo, Col Legno and The Tzedakah Trio. Mrs. Berry received her Masters in Cello Performance from Rice University and her Bachelor of Music degree from Vanderbilt University with majors in Cello Performance and German. Her principal teachers include Felix Wang, Norman Fischer and Grace Mihi Bahng.

Viola and Violin

Andrew Braddock

Andrew Braddock, a native of Lakeland, Florida, began his viola studies at the age of 12. He is actively engaged in many facets of the musical world, including solo, chamber, and orchestral performances, in addition to teaching violin and viola. Andrew has given recent solo and chamber performances in Israel, Austria, Bloomington (IN) and Aspen (CO). He is currently a member of the Evansville Philharmonic and Owensboro Symphony Orchestras, and has served as assistant principal violist in the IU Philharmonic and Chamber Orchestras, and principal violist in the Vanderbilt Symphony.

Andrew has studied violin and viola pedagogy with Mimi Zweig at Indiana University and has taught in the IU String Academy. He recently graduated from Indiana University with a Masters in Viola performance, under the tutelage of Atar Arad. He also holds a Bachelors of Music (summa cum laude) from Vanderbilt University, where he was awarded the Jean Keller Heard Prize for Excellence in string performance. His principal teachers are Atar Arad, Kathryn Plummer, and John Graham.

Violin

Hisham Groover

Hisham Bravo Groover was born in Querétaro, Mexico where he began his violin studies at the age of eleven. He continued his pre-college music studies in Las Vegas, Nevada under Brad Pineda and Len Hansen. In 2012, he graduated from Loyola University in New Orleans where he holds a Bachelors of Music. During his undergraduate studies, he worked with Amy Thiaville and Dr. Jean Montès. He has played solos with both the Loyola Chamber and Symphony Orchestras, and has held concertmaster positions within the ensembles. In the summer of 2012, Hisham studied at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music where he performed in the Symphony Orchestra and studied violin with Michel Boris Zaitzeff. Hisham is currently pursuing a Masters of Music at Western Kentucky University. As a Graduate Assistant, he is responsible for working and teaching under the tutelage of Dr. Ching-Yi Lin.

Violin

Alyna Bloecher

Alyna Bloecher received her Bachelors Degree in Music Education from Western Kentucky University (WKU) in 2013. As a soloist, Alyna has performed multiple times with the Symphony at WKU, and was recently a featured soloist on the Symphony's concert tour of China, performing Jay Ungar's Harvest Home Suite.  Equally engaged in both performing and teaching, Alyna has been teaching violin since 2007 and currently teaches violin and viola at the Clay Sound Fine Arts Academy and in the WKU Pre-College Program. She is actively involved in WKU's ASTA chapter and was awarded a scholarship from WKU for membership in the Theta Eta Chapter of Pi Kappa Lambda, the National Music Honorary Society. While at WKU, she has studied performance and pedagogy methods under Dr. Ching-Yi Lin and Mr. Ji-Myung Kim. Alyna currently studies Violin with Mr. Ji-myung Kim and Viola with Mr. Andrew Braddock. Alyna plans to pursue a Masters Degree in Violin Pedagogy at WKU in the fall.

Violin

Steven Stewart 

Steven Stewart is currently pursuing his Bachelor's in Music Education at Western Kentucky University. At WKU, he studies violin with Dr. Ching-Yi Lin and is an instructor in the WKU Pre-College Strings Program. For the past two years, he was won awards in WKU's Concerto Competition--including the First Prize in 2011--resulting in two solo performances with The Symphony. A native of Kentucky, Steven was raised in Grayson County where he learned how to play violin through the study of Bluegrass music. He also teaches at the "Music is Me" program in Glasgow, KY, and volunteers his time leading violin sectionals for local school orchestras.