Music Mentors

The Music Mentor program in its second year of existence with the A2SO, strives to deepen the relationship between the orchestra and our Link Up schools. Through this component of our Link Up program, A2SO musicians will be employed as “Music Mentors” who make school visits to work with students and teachers that are participating in the Link Up program.

Music mentors will work with students one classroom at a time. They introduce themselves and their instruments to students, perform in classrooms, work with students on the Link Up curriculum, and offer performance tips as students demonstrate the recorder/singing parts they’ve been learning.

Music mentors make two visits to each Link Up school that chooses to participate: once when the students are first being introduced to the curriculum (January), and again just a few weeks before the concert (February/early March). Students will be well-acquainted with their Music Mentor by the time of the concert and will be able to identify and connect with them onstage when the Music Mentors are featured performers.

Music Mentors will:

teach lessons that help prepare students for the Link Up concerts;
offer performance tips as students demonstrate their recorder/singing parts;
answer questions and share ideas with school music teachers;
make a personal connection with students in advance of the Link Up.

Teachers who are interested in participating in the Music Mentor program should:

Complete this short form and email it to Yi-Ching Chen by November 1.
Teachers will be notified by November 15 if we are able to match their school’s schedule with a Music Mentor’s schedule.
Schools will pay a $60 participation fee, added to their Link Up ticket order.

TESTIMONIALS FROM TEACHERS:

“It was wonderful to see that even after many years of playing in an orchestra, somebody can still be excited about music and about sharing their love for music with the audience. I also think that they learned, that orchestra musicians are regular people who happen to have picked an instrument and pracitced a lot to get to where they are.”

2017-2018 Music Mentors

Jenny Berg
Becky Bloomer
Jim Lancioni
Barbara Sturgis-Everett

Questions?

Contact Kira Woodfield Leeper for more information at 734-994-4801.

Jenny Berg

Violin / Viola
Jennifer Berg Violin Chair

Violinist Jenny Berg is currently in her sixth season with the Ann Arbor Symphony and fifth season with the Flint Symphony Orchestra. She performs regularly with the Lansing Symphony and in local schools with the Ann Arbor Symphony String Quartet.

Jenny is originally from the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, where she completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota with Sally O’Reilly. She moved to Michigan to attend the other UM, completing her Masters in Violin Performance at the University of Michigan with Stephen Shipps. Jenny served as concertmaster at both UM orchestras and has performed with the New World Symphony. As a soloist, Jenny has won the MNSOTA Competition Collegiate Division and was a National Finalist in the MTNA Competition in Toronto. During summer seasons, she has performed in music festivals in Santa Barbara (CA), Breckenridge (CO), Colorado Springs (CO), Chautauqua (NY), Medomak (ME), and Pilsen (Czech Republic).

A dedicated educator, Jenny loves sharing music with students of all ages. Her passion for teaching began at a young age teaching violin to her sister and grew during summer festivals where she had the opportunity to teach individual lessons and give community outreach concerts. At the University of Minnesota, Jenny completed pedagogy studies with Sally O'Reilly and certification for all levels of Suzuki training. In Michigan, she was a Sphinx Overture Instructor, teaching in the Flint afterschool programs. She has also taught at Interlochen Center for the Arts with Ann Arbor high school orchestra programs and the Culture Arts String Camp in Manchester. She currently teaches privately and at Expressions Music Academy in Novi, MI.

Becky Bloomer

Trumpet

Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra’s Third Trumpet and Brass Quintet Trumpet player, Becky Bloomer, joined the A2SO in 2012. Becky also performs with the Five Lakes Silver Band on Solo Cornet, and has performed with the orchestras of Dearborn, Adrian, Oakland, Birmingham Bloomfield, and the Michigan Philharmonic as a substitute or additional musician. Becky loves to share her love of music with students and children, and jumped at the opportunity to become the Instrument Petting Zoo Zookeeper for the A2SO. During Petting Zoos and Taste of Music events and performances, Becky strives to connect with young audiences through the exploration of instruments and the performance of music. Becky maintains a large private trumpet studio in Ann Arbor and the surrounding communities, and works with more than 125 students in the Van Buren Public School district through weekly masterclasses as a High Brass Specialist for Belleville High School, McBride Middle School, and Owen Intermediate School. She holds Master of Music degrees in Trumpet Performance and Chamber Music from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor of Music in Trumpet Performance from Illinois State University. Becky’s principal instructors include Bill Campbell and Amy Gilreath.

James Lancioni

Artistic Operations Manager Emeritus | Timpani

Artistic Operations Manager Emeritus Jim Lancioni obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Percussion Performance from the University of Michigan in 1978. He has been Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Timpanist for over 41 years and was the driving force behind obtaining the symphony’s own set of timpani. Jim also plays in other area orchestras, teaches private lessons, and performs as a freelance artist. Jim lives in Chelsea with his wife Susan and has two daughters and two grandsons.

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Barbara Sturgis-Everett

Violin / Viola
Principal Second Violin, Gates & Rudisill Endowed Principal Second Violin Chair

Barbara Sturgis-Everett has been a member of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra since 1989 and has served as Principal Second Violin since 1991. Prior to her association with the Symphony, Dr. Sturgis-Everett was an Associate Professor of Music at Eastern Illinois University where she was a member of the string faculty and of The Eastern Trio. She served on the faculty of the Interlochen Arts Camp for 15 summers as well as teaching and performing summers at The Downeast Chamber Music Festival in Maine. In addition to the A2SO, Ms. Sturgis-Everett performs and records with R4, The River Raisin Ragtime Revue, a 13-piece ensemble specializing in early jazz of the Ragtime era heard throughout the midwest. Other professional activities have included performing in The Peninsula Music Festival Orchestra in Door County, WI, and teaching at The Chapin School for Girls and the Manhattan Conservatory Preparatory in New York. She continues to teach violin, viola and chamber music in her studio at home and has helped organize and teach in the Summer Piano Ensemble Camp launched by the Ann Arbor Area Piano Teachers.

Barbara's early years were spent in South Carolina. The daughter and granddaughter of pianists, Barbara began studying piano with her mother at the age of 4 and violin in a 4th-grade class. She was a scholarship student at the Reston and Brevard Music Centers and a 1st place winner of the Concerto Competition for the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestra.

Barbara earned both her Bachelor of Music and Masters of Music in Baltimore at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and the Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Cincinnati where she was on the faculty of the Preparatory and Continuing Education Division. She is indebted to many teachers, especially Berl Senofsky, Henry Meyer, Walter Levin, Christine Dethier, Elaine Lee Richey, Derry Dean Drinkall, and Jess Casey.

Pioneer High School Choirs

The Ann Arbor Pioneer High School A Cappella Choir is one of four curricular and nine extra-curricular choral ensembles at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, the 2006 & 2011 National GRAMMY® Signature School. The A Cappella Choir has performed at the American Choral Directors Association Central Division Convention (2014), American Choral Directors Association Michigan State Convention (2014 & 2018), Michigan Music Conference (2013 & 2018), and Michigan Youth Arts Festival (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 & 2017). In 2014 & 2015, they were selected as an Outstanding Choir and featured at the Gala Concert of the Michigan Youth Arts Festival. The Pioneer Choirs have collaborated with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings.