Meet the Team Behind Ovation Press String Visions!
Colin Cronin, Creative Director
Colin is an entrepreneur with a passion and vision for classical music. In college he studied music performance among a variety of other areas. He is the principal editor, site manager, and developer for String Visions. Colin is originally from Tacoma, Washington and is currently based just outside Chicago.
Email: ccronin@ovationpress.com
Website: http://www.colincronin.com | Read Colin’s Articles!
Hans Jørgen Jensen, Co-Founder of Ovation Press and String Visions
Hans is one of the two original founders of Ovation Press, along with musical entrepreneur and President Michael Buck. On String Visions he is one of the primary authors, as well as a leading voice in the artistic vision of the site. Hans is a distinguished professor of cello at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
Email: hjensen@ovationpress.com
Guest Contributors
Emily Hu, Daily Bow Editor
Seattle-born cellist Emily Hu began her studies at the age of 14 with Mara Finkelstein. She earned her Bachelor of Music at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where she studied with Norman Fischer and graduated summa cum laude in 2008. Emily went on to receive her Master’s degree in Cello Performance in 2011 from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, studying with Hans Jorgen Jensen. She is now an active performer of solo and chamber music based in the Chicago area, where she also holds leadership positions in several orchestras.
Email: hu1103@gmail.com
Nicholas Heinzmann, Daily Bow Editor
Nicholas is currently a sophomore at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music where he studies cello performance with Hans Jørgen Jensen. He is a lead researcher and writer for our regular Daily Bow installment.
Brianna Richardson, Lead Contributor and musicians' health expert
Brianna is a doctoral student in physical therapy at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. She is a specialist in the field of musicians’ health and injury prevention and shares her extensive knowledge with us at String Visions.
Email: brichardson@pugetsound.edu
Dr. Cheri Collins, science and string music expert
Cheri holds a Doctor of Arts in Higher Education and Violin Performance from George Mason University. Her Dissertation, “Connecting Science and the Musical Arts in Teaching Tone Quality: Integrating Helmholtz Motion and Master Violin Teachers’ Pedagogies,” explores some of the topics we cover here under String Theory. Dr. Collins calls Virginia her home, as the conductor of the American Youth Philharmonic String Ensemble and a strings teacher with Fairfax County Public Schools.
Email: cdcollins@fcps.edu
Brenda Brenner, Project Coordinator and Contributor
Brenda is Associate Professor of Music Education in the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and the director of the Fairview Project – a program which examines the cognitive, academic and social outcomes of early violin instruction in underserved children. On String Visions she serves not only as a contributor but also as the project coordinator for all content published on this site covering the Fairview Project.
Email: bbrenner@indiana.edu
Dr. Stephanie Haun
Stephanie Haun holds D.M.A., M.S. Ed., and LMFT degrees. She is a professional violinist and psychotherapist residing in Miami, Florida. Dr. Haun contributes articles primarily focusing on scientific topics regarding the Musical Mind.
Alexander Hersh
Alexander Hersh began playing cello at the age of 5 and is the 4th generation string player in his family. He has competed innumerous solo competitions and as a member of the Emerald String Quartet. Alex has also been a Gold Medalist at the Saint Paul, Jules M. Laser, and the Chicago National chamber music competitions. His group was a Silver Medalist at the 2010 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Currently, Alex studies with Hans Jensen on a merit based scholarship from the Music Institute of Chicago and will become a student of Lawrence Lesser this fall at the New England Conservatory. Alex plays an early 20th century Italian cello made by Pietro Gallinotti.
Angela Myles Beeching
Angela Myles Beeching is a leader in the field of artists’ career development. She is the author of Beyond Talent: Creating a Successful Career in Music. She has taught at New England Conservatory, Boston University, Cal State Fresno, and SUNY Potsdam. The former director of the Career Services Center at New England Conservatory, Ms. Beeching has also been a visiting consultant to the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. At IU she launched Project Jumpstart, an innovative career and entrepreneurial leadership program.
In demand as a consultant and speaker, Angela has led workshops at Eastman, Peabody, Colburn, and Oberlin Conservatories. She has also been guest speaker at conferences for the National Association of Schools of Music, the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, and the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy. Ms. Beeching’s articles have appeared in Inside Arts, Classical Singer, and Chamber Music magazines.
A Fulbright Scholar, Ms. Beeching holds a doctorate in cello performance from SUNY Stony Brook and maintains a thriving practice, Beyond Talent Consulting. Angela is committed to helping people and institutions build paths to success through project-based coaching and consulting.
Lauren Thoman Latessa
Lauren Thoman Latessa is currently the outreach coordinator for the chamber music department at Northwestern University, where she organizes chamber performances at local elementary schools, nursing homes and hospitals. Additionally, she is a Masters candidate at Northwestern, studying cello performance under the tutelage of Hans Jensen. She holds a BM in cello performance from the Peabody Conservatory and BA in Art History from Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. James Kjelland
James Kjelland is Associate Professor of Music Education at Northwestern University where he teaches instrumental music methods and string pedagogy. He earned Bachelor and Master degrees from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Ph.D in Music Education at the University of Texas at Austin. His teaching career began in the public schools of Middleton, Wisconsin, where he taught instrumental music grades 4-12. Prior to coming to Northwestern he held positions at the University of Southern California, R.D. Colburn School, and the University of North Texas. In addition to his teaching, Dr. Kjelland is nationally known for his in-service clinics and workshops in string pedagogy and orchestra development. He is also a frequent guest conductor of all-state and regional honor orchestras throughout the United States. His publications include Orchestral Bowing: Style and Function and co-authorship of: Strictly Strings, a Comprehensive String Class Method, Teaching Stringed Instruments: A Course of Study, and Teaching Music Through Performance in Orchestra, vol. 1-3. In addition, he has written articles in such professional journals as the American String Teacher, The Instrumentalist, and Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education.
Oscar Rivera
Oscar Rivera is currently a student at the University of Chicago. He is well-versed in religion, philosophy, and piano. He maintains his own website at SomeMusician and also guest blogs on other sites. Oscar contributed several to installments of our Daily Bow segment.
Dr. Noa Kageyama
Performance psychologist Dr. Noa Kageyama is on the faculty of The Juilliard School and serves as a coach for the New World Symphony in Miami, FL. A conservatory-trained violinist with degrees from Juilliard and Oberlin, Dr. Kageyama studied with Stephen Clapp, Ronald Copes, Franco Gulli, Paul Kantor, Masao Kawasaki, Roland & Almita Vamos, and Donald Weilerstein before making the leap to psychology. He now works with musicians and elite performers in select fields, teaching them how to utilize sport psychology principles and more consistently demonstrate their full abilities under pressure. Dr. Kageyama maintains an online coaching practice at Promind Coaching and a performance psychology blog called the Bulletproof Musician.
Mihai Tetel
Mihai Tetel is Associate Professor of Cello at the Hartt School in Connecticut. He began his musical studies in his native Romania at the famed George Enescu Music School. Settling in Canada in 1979, he graduated in 1984 from the University of Toronto as a honors student of the celebrated virtuoso, Vladimir Orloff. He earned a master’s degree from the Juilliard School in 1986, and a Professional Studies Diploma from the Mannes School in New York in 1988. His principal cello teachers have included Lorne Munroe and Timothy Eddy.
Mihai is also an editor with Ovation Press!
Mira Luxion
Mira Luxion is a Presser Scholar at Northwestern University, where she studies cello with Hans Jørgen Jensen. She is a recipient of the Nerenburg Award (2011) and the Farwell Award (2007) from the Chicago Musicians Club of Women, as well as awards from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts and the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras. Mira previously served as principal of the CYSO, and was featured on NPR’s “From the Top” with her piano trio, winners of the 2007 Rembrandt Chamber Music Competition. She has a special interest in new music, and has performed with the ICE, Dal Niente, and CUBE contemporary music ensembles, as well as premiering numerous student compositions. She has performed in solo and chamber masterclasses with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, Lynn Harrell, Menahem Pressler, Joseph Silverstein, Steve Doane, and Matt Haimovitz. She has spent summers at the Lucerne Festival Academy (Switzerland), the Ottawa Young Artists Program (Canada), the Aspen Music Festival, Meadowmount School of Music, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Madeline Island Music Camp, and the Interlochen Advanced String Quartet Program.
Marion Harrington
Marion Harrington has always taken an entrepreneurial and unconventional approach throughout her very varied and colourful working career.
Originally educated as a classical clarinettist at the Royal College of Music, London, she spent more than two decades outside the profession, including running her own successful company which she merged with a large pan-European corporation in 2008, before returning to her roots and relaunching her musical persona in 2010.
Passionate about the future of classical music and the planet, Marion combines her performance and recording projects with writing, editing and empowering other musicians to build sustainable freelance careers.
