Teacher Biographies


Julie Smolin, Violin
Julie Smolin grew up in Rochester, MN, and began playing the violin when she was eight. At the age of fourteen, she joined her mother to become a member of the Rochester Symphony Orchestra. After graduating from high school, she was awarded a full scholarship to participate in the Congress of Strings in Cincinnati. There, she was concertmistress under the direction of Morton Gould. After receiving a B.A. in Music Education from Luther College in Decorah, IA, she taught junior high and elementary orchestra in Red Wing, MN. During that time, she also studied the Suzuki Method of teaching violin. After two years of teaching, Julie continued her violin studies with Eduard Melkus at the Hochsschule fur Musick und Kunst in Vienna, becoming a member of the Maurice Ravel Chamber Orchestra and performing throughout Europe. Now living in San Francisco, she is teaching Suzuki violin at the Villa Sinfonia Foundation.