Hans Christian Andersen once said, "Where words fail, music speaks." The goal of the String Department at Indian Hill Music School is to help students of all ages find a way to communicate with music. A student at any level of playing can find his or her home here. Beginners and advanced players alike are able to learn and grow in their abilities to communicate through the lyrical nature and beauty of stringed instruments. Private lessons are offered in violin, viola, cello and bass along with semi-private lessons and group classes. Students are accepted from age three to 133, with beginners through advanced players at any age.


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Lynn Mielke Basila

B.M., Colorado State University; M.M., Arizona State University, plus additional studies toward D.M.A.

The winner of several competitions, including the Arizona State University Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, Ms. Basila has been a soloist with many orchestras and chamber ensembles. She performs in the Colorado Music Festival and was a former member of the Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra. A registered Suzuki teacher, she has been on the faculty at the Tulsa Suzuki School and the Rocky Mountain Summer Music Camp.

Arcady Beletsky

B.A., Gnesin College of Music, Moscow; M.A., Gnesin Musical & Pedagogical Institute.

Mr. Beletsky has performed in concerts and music festivals in the U.S., Europe and the former Soviet Union. He has appeared at Jordan Hall, Sanders Theater, Mechanics Hall, and on WGBH radio's Morning Pro Musica.

Valerie Mack Callahan

B.M.Ed., University of Massachusetts-Lowell; M.M., Boston Conservatory; additional studies at Ithaca College, and the University of New Hampshire. Principal teachers: Marie Nelson, Geda Khatutskaya, Anne Black, and Patricia McCarty.

Former principal violist with the New Hampshire Philharmonic, Ms. Mack currently performs with the New England Philharmonic and freelances regularly in the Greater Boston area. She has been on the faculties at MusicWorks, Concord-Carlisle Regional School District, and Middleborough Public Schools. In addition to teaching, Ms. Mack studies violin repair at the University of New Hampshire Violin Institute.

Julia Cash

B.A., New England Conservatory; M.M., Staatliche Hochshcule fur Musik, Germany; Artist Diploma from Royal Conservatory of Music, The Hague.

An active recitalist and chamber musician, Ms. Cash has performed with numerous orchestras, including the Chamber Orchestra of Amsterdam, the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, and the Boston Philharmonic. A frequent participant at music festivals, she has appeared at Tanglewood, the Conservatoire des Americaines in Fontainbleau, France, and the Accedemia Musicale Chigiana in Sienna, Italy.

Denice Djerassi

M.A. in violin performance, Sibelius Academy, Finland; private violin studies, Israel. Principal teachers: John Storgards, Chaim Taub.

Denice has worked as leader in some of the best chamber orchestras in Finland, Sweden and Israel. She has performed chamber music, solo and in orchestras all over the world under internationally renowned conductors and soloists. Denice is now freelancing in the Boston area.

Cynthia Forbes

B.A., Anthropology, Harvard University; M.M., Syracuse University. Principal teachers: George Neikrug and Benjamin Zander.

Ms. Forbes performs as soloist and principal cellist with, among others, Boston Virtuosi and the Nigun Ensemble. She has performed as concerto soloist with New England String Ensemble and Syracuse Camerata. Ms. Forbes has had works composed for her, including the premiere cello and chamber works by Vuk Kulenovic. She teaches at Philips Exeter Academy Summer School, has taught in the Boston Public Schools and The New England Conservatory Preparatory School.

Susan Gottschalk

B.M., Boston University; further studies at the Suzuki Institute, Ithaca, and University of Colorado. Principal teachers: Roman Totenberg, Raphael Bronstein.

An active freelancer, Ms. Gottschalk is a member of The Orchestra of Indian Hill and the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra.

John Holland

MM and BM in Violin Performance at New England Conservatory with Academic Honors and Distinction. Principal teachers, James Buswell, James Dunham, Marylou Speaker-Churchill and Lucy Stoltzman.

Mr. Holland has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician in Boston and abroad. He is a frequent performer with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, the Chamber Orchestra of Boston, and the Isabella Gardner Museum Chamber Orchestra. As a member of the NEC Honors String Quartet, he won 2nd prize at the 2000 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. As a chamber musician, Mr. Holland has worked with prominent contemporary composers such as John Harbison, George Perle, Elliott Carter and John Corigliano. His lessons incorporate elements of both Galamian and Suzuki teaching methods.

Ala Jojatu

M.M. candidate, Boston University.

Born in Moldavia, began studying the violin at the age of six. She is currently studying with Malcolm Lowe, Concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She was the winner of the Concerto Competition at Boston Conservatory, was principal violinist under Seiji Ozawa, Tanglewood, where she performed under renowned conductors such as James Conlon, and George Benjamin. As a freelance performer, she can be heard with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, and Opera Boston.

Maxim Korn

Bachelor, Master & Doctoral Degrees, Glinka Novosibirsk State Conservatory, Russia; specialization in chamber music and string quartet at the Tchaikovsky State Conservatory, Moscow.

Dr. Korn has been professor of music at the Glinka State Conservatory and Novosibirsk Music College, as well as on the music faculties at the Community Music School of Springfield and Pakachoag Community Music School. He served as first violinist in the Glinka State Conservatory String Quartet for 25 years and has been concertmaster with the Hertzelia Chamber Orchestra in Israel and assistant concertmaster with the Bridgeport Symphony.

Peter Krysa

Gnessin Special Music School; Music School of Moscow Conservatory; Royal Conservatory of Music; B.M., Manhattan School of Music; Performance Diploma. Principal teachers: Mary Lou Speaker Churchill, Ariana Bronne, David Zafer, Albert Markov, Oleh Krysa, Sergei Kravtchenko.

Mr. Krysa has performed in major concert halls throughout the U.S., former Soviet Union, and Europe, including The Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory and 'GBH's Studio Four. He has recorded with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra under Saulius Sondeckis, and performed in many organizations including the Washington National Opera, New York City Opera, Bachanalia Chamber Orchestra (concertmaster). He is founder and director of LWMF "Music in Our Schools", which was designed to help public schools develop string programs and to bring visiting artists to public schools.

Jing Li

Artist Diploma, Indiana University; B.M. cum laude, Rice University; M.M., New England Conservatory. Principal teachers: Janos Starker, Paul Katz, Laurence Lesser.

Ms. Li is assistant principal cellist of the Springfield Symphony and principal cellist of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Chamber Orchestra. She performs regularly with the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Boston Ballet and Boston Lyric Opera, and is an active chamber musician in the Greater Boston area. In addition to teaching at Indian Hill Music, Ms. Li is on the faculties of Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras and NCMC Nantucket School of Music.

Laurel Martin
Traditional Irish fiddle player Laurel Martin learned her music from Master fiddler Seamus Connolly, a highly respected musician from County Clare with whom she studied from 1990-1993 under a Traditional Arts Apprenticeship grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Laurel has served on the faculty of the Boston College Irish Studies program since 1994 as an instructor of Irish fiddle. She is the Director of the Fiddleheads traditional Celtic music ensemble at Wellesley College, teaches privately and has led many workshops in the United States and abroad. In 2002, Laurel was again awarded a Traditional Arts Master-Apprentice grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, this time as a master teacher. Laurel is co-author with Seamus Connolly of the acclaimed book/CD Forget Me Not: Fifty Memorable Traditional Irish Tunes which was published in 2002 by Mel Bay Publications. She performs frequently in the Boston area and throughout New England, has appeared on several recordings including the Childsplay Live and Heaven and Earth CDs of the fiddle ensemble "Childsplay" of which she is a member, and her first solo recording, The Groves, was released in November 2006.

Justin Meyer

B.A., University of North Carolina; Berklee School of Music, studies with Dave Clark (jazz) and Oscar Stegnaro (Latin bass).

Mr. Meyer has performed around the country with numerous ensembles, including the Clyde Beatty Cole Brothers Circus Orchestra and the Chris Fitz Band, which won the 2001 Boston Music Award for "Best New Blues Band". He is presently a freelance bassist in the Greater Boston area and house bassist at Club Caravan in Revere.

Rebecca Strauss

B.M., Holy Names College; M.E., Lesley College; Viola Performance and Music Education, Oberlin Conservatory. Principal Teachers: Gennady Kleiman and Robert Koff.

Violist Rebecca Strauss is known as a fine performer, professional businesswoman, and beloved educator in the Boston arts scene. She has taught violin and viola for two decades and played with ensembles such as the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, the Boston Ballet Orchestra, Boston Lyric Opera, and the New England String Ensemble. As music director of Riverview Chamber Players, Rebecca has garnered praise as a versatile performer who plays, books, and organizes chamber music concerts and private and corporate events. And as co-founder and music director of Melodic Vision: A New Dimension in Fine Arts Performances, she has collaborated with photographer Susan Wilson in multimedia events on contemporary social and cultural issues.

Timothy Terranella

Artist Diploma, Boston Conservatory, B.M. Curtis Institute of Music, M.M. (flute) Boston Conservatory; Principal teachers Leonard Rose, Orlando Cole, Mischa Nieland, Ronald Thomas.

Mr. Terranella has performed as both cellist and flutist with many of Boston's most prestigious musical organizations including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Esplanade Pops, New Hampshire Symphony, Cape Cod Symphony, Nashua Symphony, Boston Academy of Music, Claflin Hill Symphony, Boston Lyric Opera and the Bostonian Chamber Players. He has performed and recorded in the New York area as a member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Terranella has dedicated much of his professional experience to teaching the cello and flute and coaching chamber ensembles. He has served on the faculties of Boston University, Buckingham and Nichols School, Groton School and the Joy of Music Program (Worcester, MA) where he is the conductor of the JOMP Chamber Orchestra.