Shaina Graff

Cecile

Shaina has been teaching violin through the Suzuki Method at L’Ecole Française du Maine since 2012. She began playing at age three as a Suzuki student herself, and music has been an integral part of her life ever since. Her Suzuki instructors include John Kendall and more recently, Teacher Training from Ronda Cole, Kimberly Meier-Sims, Cathryn Lee, and Linda Fiore. She pursued a Bachelors’s and Masters’s degree in Music Performance at Southern Illinois University Carbondale graduating with honors under Hungarian Professor Michael Barta. Further individual studies with violinists around the world include Timothy Shiu, David Kim, and Geza Koposh. She was honored chamber music coaching with Cavani String Quartet and Kodaly String Quartet. During her studies, she appeared as concertmaster and soloist with the Southern Illinois Symphony Orchestra, as well as performed with the Chamber Music Society and Altgeld Chamber Players.
Shaina directs her own studio, Shaina’s Strings Studio, and has been providing violin and viola lessons to aspiring musicians of all ages for over a decade. Her students are involved in community events, orchestras, performances, competitions, and have gone on to receive scholarships at the university level. Locally, Shaina’s Strings students have been proud to play for the Portland Pirates and Portland Sea Dogs games. Seeking to spread the enjoyment and passion for music to all, Shaina’s Strings students enjoy playing music of all genres with the fundamentals and technique to take them to unlimited possibilities. Shaina served as President of Maine Suzuki Association. She currently is a member of the Suzuki Association of America, Maine Suzuki Association, and String Teachers Association.
As a professional violinist, Shaina performs with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Paducah Symphony Orchestra, Bangor Symphony, concertmaster for Mozart Mentors Orchestra,  and principle 2nd Violin for Maine State Ballet Nutcracker Orchestra. Other performances include Chicago Chamber Orchestra, Union Avenue Opera, Tulsa Opera Co., Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Winter Opera St. Louis, Illinois Chamber Orchestra, Fayetteville Symphony, Southeast Missouri Symphony, and the Southern Illinois Summer Music Festival Orchestra. Additionally, to orchestral settings, Shaina is extremely passionate about chamber music. She served as vice president of the Southern Illinois Chamber Music Society and for over a decade as a violinist of the Chautauqua String Ensemble. She desires to create more opportunities for musicians and to enhance the musical connection with the community through chamber music. Shaina strives to make a positive, valuable impact on musicians and music lovers of all ages. She treasures the role she partakes in each violinist’s educational life and looks forward to unlimited possibilities to come. She believes Music is the Alchemy of Life.
www.shainastrings.com     Shaina@shainastrings.com