Mimi Zweig is professor of music in violin at the IU Jacobs School of Music and director of its String Academy. American Public Television released the Emmy-nominated documentary Circling Around—The Violin Virtuosi, featuring String Academy students, in spring 2006.

Brenda Brenner is Eugene O’Brien Bicentennial Executive Associate Dean (Interim) and associate professor of music in music education at the IU Jacobs School of Music. She recently completed her tenure as president of the American String Teachers Association.

Christina Hightower earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Utah, where she studied with Leonard Braus, served as concertmaster of the University Philharmonic, and was a member of the Honors Quartet. She earned a Master of Music degree from Jacobs as a student of Mimi Zweig.

Gwen Chan earned a Master of Music from the IU Jacobs School of Music, where she studied with Mimi Zweig, and a bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music. She has extensive experience as a teacher at both the college and pre-college levels, and serves as violin and viola faculty at Anderson University.

Emily Nehus studied violin and music education at the IU Jacobs School of Music with Brenda Brenner, Mimi Zweig, and Ik-Hwan Bae, and baroque violin with Stanley Ritchie. In addition to 20 years of teaching for the String Academy, she created the Bloomington Project School’s grant-winning strings program, where she taught for seven years. 

Maki Yamagata is currently studying with the world-renowned violist and composer, Atar Arad, and pursuing a doctorate degree in music performance at the Jacobs School of Music. She holds both bachelor’s and master’s degree in music performance from University of Victoria, Canada, under the tutelage of Joanna Hood of the Lafayette String Quartet. She was an active teacher in Canada before moving to US and is now studying pedagogy with Mimi Zweig.

Helen Shively Ford was previously on the faculty of the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis, where she also served as String Department chair and chamber music coordinator. She was a member of the Minneapolis-based Sartory String Quartet and performed with the Minnesota Opera Orchestra, Minnesota Contemporary Ensemble, and other regional ensembles.

Hailing from Miami Florida, Erica Ogihara is a passionate performer and teacher. Her repertoire ranges from works as recent as John Adams’ riveting Fellow Traveller to familiar classics such as Franz Joseph Haydn’s beloved Opus 64 String Quartets. Her recent performance highlights include giving the New York City premier of Lisa Heffter’s Carbon Fiber String Quartet with the Continuum Chamber Collective, a musical group focused on performing underrepresented compositions. Erica has put together numerous chamber projects which have led to her participation in masterclasses with artists such as composer Nico Muhly, pianist Ursula Oppens, and violinist Ida Kavafian. Heard as a soloist with orchestras including the Alhambra Symphony Orchestra and the Ars Flores Symphony Orchestra, Erica has also been a laureate at several competitions including the Walenstein Music Competition and the Artist Series of Sarasota Competition.

As an educator, Erica wishes to cultivate a love of music through her teaching and provide music education to as many people as possible. A Suzuki Association of the Americas registered instructor, she completed her teacher training in books 1-8 with Pam Devenport and books 9-10 with Tanya Carey. As a 2021 Fellow at ArtistYear, the premier AmeriCorps program dedicated for artists, Erica taught music and cello to District I Schools in Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley through her service year. In addition, she taught cello lessons and group classes to young cellists at The School for Strings’ Start-Up Program and was a Morse Teaching Fellow and Gluck Community Engagement Fellow through The Juilliard School.

Erica began her studies on the cello at the age of 10 with Audrey Pilafian. She is pursuing her Doctorate in Cello Performance at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music under the tutelage of Brandon Vamos of the Pacifica Quartet. Erica completed her Master’s Degree from The Juilliard School and also holds a Bachelor of Music from Oberlin Conservatory. Her teachers include Darrett Adkins, Natasha Brofsky, Ross Harbaugh, and Judith Serkin.