Strings

​TAYLOR GIORGIO, violin
​Taylor Giorgio is currently pursuing her doctoral studies in Violin Performance at Florida State University. She is a student of Professor Corinne Stillwell and a Graduate Teaching Assistant. An active freelance musician, she performs regularly with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Gulf Coast, and Ocala Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Giorgio currently has a large private
violin studio and directs two violin workshops in the summer at Stubbs Music Center.

In 2017, Ms. Giorgio graduated with a Master’s degree in Violin Performance from Florida State University. An advocate of new music, she played frequently with the New Music Ensemble and performed with a faculty string quartet during the 2017 Festival of New Music. Ms. Giorgio has worked with undergraduate music majors in many settings, including coaching chamber music,
teaching group technique classes, and private lessons.

Ms. Giorgio graduated Summa Cum Laude from West Virginia University in 2014, with a double degree in Music Education and Violin Performance. While at West Virginia University, she conducted the Morgantown Community Orchestra, maintained a violin studio of seventeen students, and won the 2013 WVU Young Artist Concerto Competition. In April 2014, she performed a solo concerto written by a student composer with the WVU Symphony Orchestra.

Ms. Giorgio has performed at prestigious music festivals including the Texas Music Festival, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Kinhaven Young Artist Seminar, Brevard Music Festival, Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, and Classical Music Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria. Ms. Giorgio began playing the violin at age ten, after finding her great-grandfather’s violin in the
attic.

​KYLE VENLET, violin
A native of Grand Rapids, MI, Kyle Venlet is Assistant Principal 2nd Violin with the Traverse Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, he performs with the Midland, Southwest Michigan, West Michigan, and Lansing Symphony Orchestras. An active chamber musician, he performs with Camerata Michigan and Ad Libitum Chamber Orchestra, appearing regularly in the West Circle
and Cello Plus Concert Series. As a member of the Perigon Trio, he has premiered new works for clarinet-violin-piano, and performed in recitals across Michigan.

Kyle maintains a private studio in Lansing, MI, and previously taught at the CMU Community Music School, where his students placed in MSBOA All-State Orchestras and were accepted to university music programs. He has given outreach concerts and workshops across the state, including the Ann Arbor Pioneer, Okemos, Midland, and Mount Pleasant School Districts.
He earned degrees from Michigan State University and Central Michigan University, where he was a Midland Symphony Fellow. At both schools, he served extensively as concertmaster in the university symphonies. As a high school student, he served as concertmaster of the Grand Rapids Youth Symphony. His principal teachers include Dmitri Berlinsky, Seunghee Lee, David
Holland, and Christopher Martin. He is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Michigan State University.

JULIE STUCKERT, viola/violin
Julie Stuckert is excited to return to mfsom for her third summer teaching violin and viola. Julie studies Music Education at Ball State University, and will be entering her senior year in the Fall of 2018. As a violist, Julie enjoys performing with the Ball State Symphony Orchestra, the East Central Indiana Chamber Orchestra, and several chamber ensembles, including the nationally recognized Ball State University Viola Choir. She was named one of two winners of the 2017 Ball State University Undergraduate Concerto Competition. Julie is an active member of the American Viola Society, the American String Teachers Association, and Sigma Alpha Iota International Music Fraternity. 

AMANDA SMITH, viola
Violist Amanda Smith has performed with the Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, and Lansing Symphonies, as well as the chamber ensemble Camerata Michigan. While pursing her Artist Diploma and serving as a graduate assistant at Ball State University, she performed with the Muncie and Anderson Symphonies, and served as principal violist for the East Central Indiana Chamber Orchestra. She has spent her summers at music festivals including the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, Nief Norf Summer Festival, Taneycomo Festival Orchestra, The BayView Music Festival, and acted as an international assistant at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. As an advocate for new music, Amanda has premiered works by Adam Kennaugh, Mary Jane Halco, Nate Bliton, and Laura Roth. She was a recipient of the Western Michigan University College of Fine Arts Faculty Fellowship grant for travel to Russia and winner of the University of Tennessee Viola Celebration Collegiate Ensemble Competition. Amanda teaches violin and viola at Great Lakes Adventist Academy and is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts at Michigan State University.

CARRIE MILLER, cello
Carrie recently relocated to Ann Arbor Michigan after finishing her masters to start a cello studio and freelance. Since moving she has performed with the Jackson Symphony, South West Symphony Orchestra, and West Symphony Orchestra.

Carrie Miller studied at Florida State University with Greg Sauer for a Masters of Music in cello performance and received a Bachelors of Music in cello performance from the California State University Sacramento where she studied with Professor Andrew Luchansky.

Carrie began playing the cello at nine years old in Davis California where she grew up. During her 4 years at CSU, Sacramento, she had masterclasses with pianist-composer, Eric Zivian, cellist, Timothy Eddie, and cellist, Steven Doane. In 2015 she performed the Lalo Cello Concerto after being a winner of the CSU Sacramento Concerto Competition.

While attending Florida State University, Carrie performed with the opera, the University Symphony Orchestra, the baroque ensemble, and the viol ensemble. During her masters, she also performed with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Symphonia Gulf Coast Orchestra, Albany Symphony Orchestra, and Panama City Pops Orchestra. One of the greatest moments in her career was to play with world renowned singer, Renee Fleming.

She has taught cello privately for the past 10 years and continues to do so with her private studio as well as working for The Community Music School of Ann Arbor where she works as a cello teacher, chamber music coach, and operations manager. Teaching enriches her life as a person and cellist by connecting with musicians of any level and sharing her passion for music.

NAOMI ROCKENBAUGH, cello
Naomi Rockenbaugh recently received her Bachelors in Music Performance at Ball State University where she studied with Dr. Peter Opie. During her time at Ball State she has performed with the East Central Indiana Chamber Orchestra, Elkhart Symphony Orchestra and the Muncie Symphony Orchestra. In addition to performing in an orchestral setting, Naomi has performed with the Ball State University Singers and BSU’s chamber choir at the 2016 Indiana Music Education Association conference. She has volunteered with the Youth Symphony Orchestra of East Central Indiana and worked with the Muncie Symphony outreach program. In the fall of 2016, Ms. Rockenbaugh will begin her Masters in Music Performance at Ball State University while pursuing a minor in Teaching English as a Second Language. She has participated in masterclasses with David Finckel and Horacio Contreras. This is her second year working with mfsom.