Born in Houston, Texas, Jerry Csaba started the violin in the public school system around the age of ten.  She was very fortunate to begin her orchestral experience almost immediately in the Houston Youth Symphony.  She studied at the University of Texas and worked her way through school by teaching in the Junior String Project, under the supervision of her U. of T. music professors, until she graduated with a Bachelor of Music Education.  Playing in the Austin Symphony for four years further supported her studies.

In her early twenties, she joined the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Zubin Mehta, the year of the opening of the Place des Arts.  These years were full of excitement with internationally known soloists and conductors.  She also performed as a member and soloist with the McGill Chamber Orchestra.  After that she played in the Rochester Philharmonic for one year, then she and her husband came back to Canada to become founding members of the NAC Orchestra until she retired in 2003.  Being concertmaster of the Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra for almost twenty years, was an important part of her career as it offered many opportunities for personal expression as a leader and soloist.  Throughout her years in Ottawa, she played very often with the Music for a Sunday Afternoon series and worked and played with chamber musicians from around the world.

During all of these years, she taught privately, and coached chamber groups and amateur musicians to share some of her experience.  Her guiding lights, since her arrival in Canada, were Yaela Hertz and Lorand Fenyves.  From them, she learned to express the inner soul of music and to pass it on to others.

Kiri-Christina Fill is a graduate of Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Music. She has been involved with the Suzuki method for the majority of her life, having started Suzuki violin in Ottawa at the age of 4. When she was 12, she realized that teaching was going to be part of her lifetime career. Kiri-Christina has been a registered Suzuki violin teacher for 10 years. She believes that the environment provided by the Suzuki method creates beautiful people whether a student plans to become a professional, part-time musician or just have a fun hobby. She is a huge believer that every child can become a violinist so long as they have support from their parents and teachers and love what they are doing.

Sarah Williams is a graduate of the University of Ottawa with a Bachelor of Music in performance. She started studying violin at the age of four with violinist Elaine Klimasko, founding first violinist with the National Arts Centre Orchestra. Furthermore, she has studied with Jonathan Crow, David Stewart, Yehonatan Berick, and Yosuke Kawasaki.

Her accomplishments include being a member of the National Youth Orchestra for 3 years (concertmaster at age 16), a member of the Gatineau Symphony Orchestra, a member of Thirteen Strings in Ottawa, a substitute member of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and currently a member of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra for 14 years, leading the second violin section.

Sarah has been a teacher with OSS for the past 12 years and has previously taught at the Nepean School of Music, Kanata School of Music, La Petite Fanfare summer music camp, and the Campbell Douglas Music Education Centre. She has completed her Suzuki Teacher Training books 1-6 and Every Child Can with Elayne Ras and Karen Kimmett.

 Sarah Als is currently in the process of completing her Bachelor of Music in performance at the University of Ottawa. She began studying the violin at the age of four in Ottawa with Suzuki teacher, Laurie Goodman, and now studies the viola with Michael van der Sloot.  Sarah has played in various orchestras throughout the years, including the Ottawa Youth Orchestra, as well as the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra. Some of her accomplishments include attending Casalmaggiore International Music Festival in Italy, and attending Orford Music Academy in 2022 with a full scholarship. Sarah has been teaching violin for 3 years. In her free time, Sarah enjoys playing violin at numerous retirement homes across Ottawa, as well as playing chamber music with her colleagues.  She has completed Suzuki teacher training under the instruction of Jane Kutscher Reed and Libby Armour.  

Violinist Rachel Hwang was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea and moved to Ottawa, Ontario in 2014. She recently graduated from the University of Ottawa with a Bachelor of Music (violin performance) and Statistics. She is continuing her study in Master of Music Performance with Timothy Chooi. During her studies at the University of Ottawa, she mainly studied with Timothy Chooi and Yehonatan Berick. She has also studied with Nikki Chooi, Michael van der Sloot and Jean-Hee Lee. She has several years of teaching experience as well as orchestral and chamber experience. She took part in the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra Mentorship Program for a few years. Rachel attended the International Music Festival of the Adriatic (IMFA) in Italy and the Scotia Festival of Music Young Artist Program in Halifax.

Rachel has completed Suzuki teacher training with Margot Jewell.

Based in Ottawa, Ontario, grew up in Albany, New York and born in Seoul, South Korea, Ryan Vis is a dedicated violist and educator pursuing a Master of Music Performance in Viola at the University of Ottawa. He began his musical journey at age 3, playing the piano, and later took up the violin at 8 years old. He switched to viola at 12 due to the sonority fitting his personality more. Ryan teaches violin for Ottawa Suzuki Strings. He serves as the Orchestra Manager for the uOttawa Symphony Orchestra and manages social media for the Canadian Viola Society. Ryan is an associate member of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre Symphonique de Gatineau. He substitutes with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and has performed with Candlelight Concerts in Ottawa. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Viola Performance from the McGill Schulich School of Music. Committed to music and education, Ryan actively participates in renowned musical events.

Ryan has completed Suzuki violin teacher training with Janet (Libby) Armour at the Virginia Suzuki Institute.

Featured as one of CBC’s “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30 in 2018”,  Nathan Bredeson is gaining international acclaim as an award-winning guitarist and composer. Nathan completed his Suzuki ECC and Guitar Book 1 training in 2017 with Andrea Cannon in Houston, Texas.  He has also adjudicated for music festivals such as the 2019 Kiwanis Music Festival in Sudbury and the 2019 Nationals of MusicFest Canada.

He earned his bachelor of music at the University of Ottawa where he studied with Denis Donegani (Canadian Guitar Quartet), and composition with John Armstrong and Frederic Lacroix. Nathan was awarded the Ed Honeywell Memorial Scholarship for classical guitar in 2013. He went on to complete his master’s degree under the tutelage of the Cuban guitar virtuoso Rene Izquierdo at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.

Nathan’s compositions have been featured in international competitions, including the Miami International GuitArt Festival and the Great Lakes Guitar Festival.  In 2016, his composition Astral Projection won first prize in the Ottawa Guitar Society Composition Competition.  Most recently, he was awarded second place at the 2019 Great Lakes Guitar Competition, adjudicated by Leo Brouwer.  He released his solo album, Nocturne, in September 2019.

Nathan also performs regularly with his ensemble, the Ottawa Guitar Trio, which is dedicated to bringing the best music from film, videotapes and classical repertoire to life on the guitar.  He is also a performer for Concerts in Care, an organization that brings live music to senior homes across Ontario.

Nathan teaches from his residence in Centretown.

https://www.nathanbredeson.ca

He was encouraged to take piano lessons from an early age. He also played clarinet in grade school, switching to electric guitar in high school and then to classical guitar and cello in the later grades and 1st-year university. Guitar teachers include Eli Kassner, Toronto Conservatory of Music. Cello teachers include Donald Whitton. He also studied theory privately with Dr. Frederick Karam in the 1970s while in high school before being admitted to the bachelor’s program in theory and composition, at the University of Ottawa. He went on to study music at McGill University and then University of Western Ontario where he obtained his master’s degree in theory and composition and master’s degree in library and information science.

Teachers include Bruce Mather (analysis), Claude Baliff (analysis and composition) John Rea (composition) Arsenio Giron (composition). He’s been teaching theory, analysis, and ear training in classroom settings (including at the university level) and privately for 35 years. He was map/geographic information systems librarian at the University of Ottawa for 25 years and is now retired. He teaches theory privately from his home studio.

Maya is from Ottawa and began studying guitar in 2010. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music in guitar performance at the University of Ottawa, intending to graduate in 2025. Prior to university, she studied at the SuzukiMusic School and performed throughout Ottawa as a soloist and in an ensemble. Recently, she has taken part in the Guitar Alla Grande Festival and performed at Domaine Forget. Maya began teaching guitar in 2022 and loves being able to introduce music to students and help them improve by combining their technical and expressive skills. She completed her Every Child Can Suzuki training in 2023 and is registered for MaryLou Roberts’ Book 1 course in early 2024. Maya has also studied the piano for 12 years. Outside of music, she loves to swim and spend time with friends and her golden retriever. She is excited to be volunteering at Ottawa Suzuki Strings this year!