Mimi Zweig is currently Professor of Violin at the Jacobs School of Music and Director of the Indiana University String Academy. Since 1972 she has developed pre-college string programs across the United States. She has given master classes and pedagogy workshops in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Israel, Japan, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile and Europe.  She has produced Mimi Zweig StringPedagogy.com, an innovative web-based teaching tool, which is being accessed worldwide. In the spring of 2006, American Public Television released the Emmy-nominated documentary, Circling Around — The Violin Virtuosi, featuring String Academy students. Her students have won numerous competitions and teach and perform worldwide.

Brenda Brenner is Professor of Music Education in the IU Jacobs School of Music, Co-Director of the IU String Academy and the Jacobs School of Music Associate Dean. She recently completed her tenure as President of ASTA (American String Teachers Association). She specializes in the area of string music education, teaching applied violin and courses in violin and string pedagogy. Her String Academy students have been featured in concerts in major venues throughout the United States and Europe. Prior to her arrival at IU, Dr. Brenner was Assistant Professor of Music at Carleton College. Active as a performer, she received her Doctorate in Musical Arts in Violin Performance from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Sylvia Rosenberg, Donald Weilerstein, and the Cleveland Quartet. A member of the award-winning Augustine Quartet, she was a finalist or prize winner in several competitions, including the Banff International Quartet Competition, Concert Artists Guild, Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, and Cleveland Competition, and has worked with the Cleveland, Toyko, Juilliard, American and Emerson Quartets.

Richard Aaron is currently on the cello faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and is professor emeritus of cello at the University of Michigan. Previously he also taught at The Juilliard School, Cleveland Institute of Music and the New England Conservatory. Aaron has given master classes in Spain, Germany, France, Korea, Japan, China, and Australia, as well as at many of the leading music schools in North America, including Rice University, Oberlin Conservatory, Eastman School of Music, Mannes, the Hartt School, and The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Since 2003, Aaron has been on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and has taught at many other summer music institutes including the Indiana University String Academy, Calgary Music Bridge, Peter the Great Music Festival (Groningen, Holland), Aria International Summer Academy (Massachusetts), Innsbruck Summer Music Academy (Missouri), Chautauqua Institution (New York), the Idyllwild Summer Program (California), Heifetz International Music Institute (Virginia), Marrowstone Music Festival (Port Townsend, Washington), and Encore (Ohio).

Many of Aaron’s students have won prestigious prizes at competitions around the world, including the Naumburg, Washington International, Johanson in Washington, Isan Yun in Korea, Cassado in Japan, and Klein in San Francisco. Aaron himself is a frequent competition judge, having recently served the Beijing International Competition, Isan Yun Competition (Korea), Cassado (Japan), Amsterdam Cello Biennale Competition, Schadt String Competition, and The Stulberg Competition. Former Aaron students have occupied principal positions in major orchestras such as Chicago, Saint Louis, Seattle, Portland, and the Metropolitan Opera to name just a few, as well as playing among award-winning ensembles, such as the Biava, Fry Street, American, Pandereski, Linden, Escher, and Aeolus string quartets. Aaron was a member of the Elysian Piano Trio at Baldwin Wallace College for 14 years; he continues an active chamber music performance schedule. For enjoyment and enrichment, Aaron studies and plays the viola da gamba and baroque cello.

Violist Andrew Braddock’s teaching and performing career has recently taken him to the Sejong Center in Seoul, South Korea, the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, and the International Viola Congress in Rotterdam. A passionate educator, he has given masterclasses at Vanderbilt University, the Chinese Culture University in Taipei, Taiwan, Bowling Green State University, and many others. He teaches at Western Kentucky University (WKU) and is the co-director of the WKU String Academy. In the summers, he teaches at the Indiana University Summer String Academy and directs the WKU Summer String Institute, an intensive summer camp for students ages 4 to 18 based around chamber music and orchestral performance. His creative teaching led him to co-found Bridging Cultures with Music, a 501(c)(3) organization that supports various pedagogical and outreach programs in his community and abroad.

Research, writing, and intellectual discovery are central to his artistic mission. His writings have appeared in publications such as The Strad and the Journal of the British Music Society. He is currently the editor of the American Suzuki Journal, a quarterly publication of the Suzuki Association of the Americas. From 2017 to 2021, Dr. Braddock was the editor of the Journal of the American Viola Society, the most prominent peer-reviewed publication for viola scholarship. The journal presents musicological and music theory research relating to the viola, in addition to pedagogical insights and current reviews. Most recently, Dr. Braddock spearheaded an issue devoted to the 40th anniversary of George Rochberg’s viola sonata, examining it from various musicological, historical, and theoretical perspectives. He previously served as the journal’s New Music Editor and on the board of the American Viola Society. He is the principal violist of the Paducah Symphony Orchestra, and he regularly plays with the Nashville Symphony and the Nashville Opera. He holds degrees from Indiana University, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Kentucky. His principal teachers are Atar Arad, Kathryn Plummer, and John Graham. He plays a viola made by Giovanni Pistucci, ca. 1920.

Sirena Huang made her solo debut with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra in 2004 at the age of nine, and, since then, has performed in seventeen countries across three continents. She has been featured as a soloist with more than fifty prestigious ensembles, including the New York Philharmonic, the Symphony Orchestras of Cleveland, Baltimore, Shanghai, Russia, Evergreen and Singapore, and the Staatskapelle Weimar in Germany. She has appeared as a guest artist at the Verbier Music Festival, Ravinia Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, Sarasota Arts Series, Albuquerque Chamber Music Festival, “The Great Music for a Great City” series in New York City, and many others.
Motivated by a deep wish to inspire peace and harmony with her music, Sirena has performed before world leaders, thinkers and humanitarians. At age eleven, she gave a TED talk that garnered more than 2.5 million views. In 2006, she received the honor of playing for thirty Nobel Prize Laureates at the World Peace Conference held in Petra. In 2007, she played in the Opening Ceremony of the “Forum 2000 World Conference” in Prague. In 2008, she was invited to perform during the ceremony in which the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity presented its Humanitarian Award to President Sarkozy of France. Ms. Huang won the Gold Medal Prize at the 2022 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis.

Roeland Jagers is currently principal viola of the Noord Nederlands Orkest.  He is also a passionate chamber musician and was a founding member of the Rubens Quartet, laureate of several international competitions. The quartet enjoyed an active international career for 16 seasons in Europe, the United States and Israel. Roeland performs regularly in concert halls such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Tonhalle Zürich, the Konzerthaus in Vienna and the Philharmonie in Berlin.

He also appears as a guest in international festivals such as Mecklenburg Vorpommern and Schleswig Holstein (Germany), Larzac (France), Kuhmo (Finland), El Paso Pro Musica, Sitka Music Festival and Indiana University Festival of the Arts (US). Roeland plays a Giovanni Pistucci viola, on loan to him from the Nationaal Muziekinstrumenten Fonds in Amsterdam.

Sarah Kapustin’s musical activities have taken her across North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia in performances as soloist, chamber and orchestral musician.

A devoted and passionate chamber musician, Sarah has appeared at various international festivals, most notably Kuhmo, Giverny, Sitka, El Paso ProMusica, Peter de Grote, Chamberfest Cleveland and Marlboro, where she has performed with such distinguished artists as Claude Frank, Joseph Silverstein, David Soyer, and Kim Kashkashian. Sarah plays recitals regularly with pianists Jeannette Koekkoek and Shuann Chai, and her recordings of the Beethoven sonata cycle (with Koekkoek) and solo works by Bartók, Bach and Fulmer, among others, have received international acclaim. Sarah was the 1^st violinist of the renowned Rubens Quartet from 2008 until the group’s final season in 2016.

Sarah received a Master’s degree in violin performance at The Juilliard School with Robert Mann in 2005. She previously received a Bachelor of Music and an Artist Diploma from Indiana University as a pupil of Mauricio Fuks, and formerly studied with Mimi Zweig and James Przygocki.

Currently Sarah resides in Zwolle, the Netherlands, where she is active as a chamber musician, soloist and concertmaster. She also performs and tours regularly with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Resonanz and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Violinist Ching-Yi Lin’s recent performances and masterclasses have taken her to the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Norway, the Shenyang and Xi’an Conservatories in China, Northwestern University, and the University of British Columbia. She’s also performed in New York on the Museum of Modern Art’s Summer Garden Series, at Sejong Center in South Korea, and in Taiwan at the National Concert Hall in Taipei. Her recent album on MSR Classics features sonatas for violin and piano by Charles Ives, William Bolcom, and John Corigliano. In reviewing the album, Gramophone noted the “panache and warmth” of Ms. Lin’s playing and described her interpretations as “a series of tender, lively, and challenging conversations.” A dedicated and creative teacher, Ching-Yi Lin is Associate Professor at Western Kentucky University and also serves on the faculty at the Indiana University Summer String Academy and the WKU Summer String Institute. She is also the concert master of Paducah Symphony.

Pasha Sabouri is one of the most sought after and respected American violin pedagogues of the new generation. He has performed in recitals and concerts in Holland, Sweden, Austria, Germany, UK, throughout the United States and Canada. A passionate educator and a published author whose acclaimed book “Upbeat” guides middle and high school students and their families on the road to professional musical education and career. His students are competing and featured in such competitions and media outlets as Menuhin Competition, Sphinx Competition, Dallas Symphony’s Lynn Harrell Competition, ENKOR Competition, and NPR’s From The Top, winning the coveted “Jack Kent Cooke” Award.

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, his primary focus is his highly successful private studio. Pasha Sabouri is on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College. He has also had the privilege to serve as Adjunct Professor at Concordia College as well as Artistic Director at the Concordia College Music Academy in Austin, Texas. Prior to this position, he was appointed Lecturer Violin Professor at Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana and has also been faculty at Encore Chamber Music Institute, Omaha Conservatory of Music Institute, the Brian Lewis Young Artist Program, and has adjudicated at Carnegie Hall NYO/2 program, Jack McGehee and UT Concerto Competitions.

Brandon Vamos is professor of practice (cello) at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and a member of the Pacifica Quartet, the school’s quartet-in-residence. He has appeared as soloist with orchestras worldwide and has collaborated with many distinguished artists, including Paul Katz, Michael Tree, Yo-Yo Ma, Menahem Pressler, and the Emerson Quartet, and has recorded for Cedille, Naxos, and Cacophony Records. Awarded a Performer’s Certificate at the Eastman School of Music, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree as a student of Paul Katz, Vamos has also studied with distinguished artists such as Tanya Carey in Macomb, Ill., and Aldo Parisot at Yale University, where he earned a Master of Music degree. As a member of the Pacifica Quartet, he won a 2009 Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance and the Cleveland Quartet Award, in addition to being named Musical America’s 2009 Ensemble of the Year.

Megan Yip currently teaches cello undergraduates at University of Michigan and serves on the faculty at Michigan Youth Performing Arts Pre-College Program. She previously taught undergraduates at Yale College and recently led a masterclass at Elly Bašić School of Music in Zagreb, Croatia. She is a guest artist with Versoi Ensemble, a collective of American and Finnish artists as agents of cultural diplomacy and was a member of Grammy-nominated ensemble, Yale Cellos. She continues to perform throughout the United States and internationally, with recent performances at Yellow Barn (Putney, VT), Prussia Cove (England), and Thy Chamber Music (Denmark). Ms. Yip recently returned after a year in Freiburg, Germany as a recipient of a Fulbright, and holds degrees from Yale School of Music and The Juilliard School. She is completing her Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Michigan.

Known for her probing musical voice and searing virtuosity, Nancy Zhou seeks to invigorate appreciation for the art and science of the violin. Her thoughtful musicianship and robust online presence resonate with a global audience in such a way that brings her on stage with leading orchestras around the world. More than 20 years since her orchestral debut, Nancy has collaborated with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, among others. A passionate soloist who cherishes chamber music collaborations and commits to the responsibility of education,Nancy has performed at festivals including the Verbier Festival, Tongyeong Music Festival, and Marvão Festival; she is a regular guest educator at various international summer festivals,holding not only masterclasses but also workshops on fundamental training and wellbeing for musicians. Over the years, the violinist’s interest in cultural heritage and the humanities resulted in a string of notable collaborations. In collaboration with the New Jersey Symphony and Xian Zhang, she presented Zhao Jiping’s first violin concerto at Alice Tully Hall; gave the US premieres of Unsuk Chin’s “Gran Cadenza” for two solo violins with Anne-Sophie Mutter; performed Chen Qigang’s “La joie de la souffrance” with the Rogue Valley Symphony; and, in partnership with the La Jolla Symphony, gave the West Coast premiere of Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto no. 1. In July 2025, Nancy embarks on a research trip with Vivian to Zhexiang, China, the hometown village of the violinist’s mother, who is a former professional folk dancer ; the result is a work for violin and electronics that explores the intersection of music as a cultural force and folk minority culture. The violinist’s critically-acclaimed debut album, STORIES (re)TRACED, is a response to these questions and features four seminal and inextricably connected works for solo violin, including Béla Bartók’s Sonata. The CD released in June 2025 with Orchid Classics. Born in Texas to Chinese immigrant parents, Nancy began the violin under the guidance of her father, who hails from a family of traditional musicians. She went on to study with Miriam Fried  at the New England Conservatory while pursuing her interest in literature at Harvard University. She now is an Associated Artist of the Queen Elisabeth Chapel.