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Mr. Thompson---
My name is Dan Thompson and I am a
professional musician and educator in
Knoxville,
Tennessee
. I am beginning my second year as director of orchestras at West Valley
Middle School. I earned the Bachelor of Music degree in Double Bass
Performance from the University of Cincinnati
College- Conservatory of Music in 1992. I attended the Juilliard
School
beginning in 1995 and earned the Master of Music degree in Double Bass
Performance in 1997. My experiences have taken me from the Aspen
Music Festival in
Aspen,
Colorado to a tour of
Mexico with The
Ensemble for 18th Century Music, and a tour of
Asia with the
Juilliard Orchestra. I have studied with such noted performers and pedagogues
as Eugene
Levinson, Al
Laszlo, Paul Ellison, Francois
Rabbath and Bruce Bransby. My extensive performance experience includes
work with the Columbus Symphony,
the West Virginia Symphony and the Dayton Philharmonic. I have been a member
of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra
since 1997. Many of my duties with the KSO included extensive involvement with
education and outreach. For the past 15 years, I have been involved in
mentoring young musicians and have helped place students in scholarship
programs at esteemed universities.
My passion is bringing music to young
people. My experiences both as a professional performer and as an educator
have solidified my resolve to make the Strings Programs at Knox County Schools
the most outstanding in the region. In working with beginning string
students, my goal is to give my students exceptional technique in addition to
true musical sensitivity and understanding.
Mrs. Finck---
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Allyson
Finck and I began studying the Violin in the third grade. After graduating
from G. Ray Bodley High School in
New York
, I briefly attended the Crane School of Music at SUNY
Potsdam. Soon afterwards I married and moved to
Knoxville where I earned 2 music
education degrees from
Maryville
College
, one in vocal/general music and the other in instrumental/strings ensemble. I
also worked over a year creating a senior thesis which is titled Assessment
in the Secondary Music Ensemble Classroom.
Since graduating from college I have worked in a
few places throughout the
East Tennessee area. My first
year teaching, I was a general music teacher, grades K-5, in Monroe County,
traveling between two schools and developing an after school strings
enrichment class. In 2005-2007 I then enjoyed 2 years in the
Oak Ridge
School district
as an Orchestra teacher, teaching 4th grade beginning strings at 2
different schools and also assisted with the impressive High School Orchestra.
Currently I am enjoying my new position here in
Knox
County as an Orchestra educator
at
West
Valley
Middle School and
Cedar
Bluff
Middle School
. I also have the privilege to team teach with the Chorus teacher at Cedar
Bluff Middle.
Since 1999 I have been blessed to have an array of
private students, and I continue to teach privately in my home in
Maryville,
TN.
My wonderful husband, Erick, has been my rock for over 10 years now and
together we have two beautiful daughters, Caitlyn (6 yrs. old) and Jannalin (4
yrs. old).
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