Bio

Elayne began Suzuki violin lessons at the age of 11 at the first Suzuki school in Toronto, after studying piano with her mother Jo-Ann from the age of 5. Her early Suzuki teachers were Erica Davidson and Hazel Comer. During high school, she was an accompanist for many Suzuki classes, and achieved her Grade 9 piano, and Grade 10 violin certificates from the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Also during high school, Elayne was a member of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, and for nine summers during high school and university she worked at Adventure Place, a treatment and assessment centre for special needs children and their families. Over those nine summers, she evolved from volunteer--to summer staff/counsellor, to assistant Director, and finally to Director of a one-month program that served an Ontario housing project in North York, providing their children with a day camp experience in their community.

Elayne attended the University of Western Ontario, and received her Honours Bachelor of Music in Performance, (1987), studying with Lorand Fenyves, and her BA in Psychology (Child Development) (1994).

Elayne has worked with many wonderful Suzuki teachers while pursuing teacher training, including Alice Joy Lewis, John Kendall, Margery Aber, Nancy Lokken, Becky Sandrok, and Brian Lewis, and in 2002 became an approved violin Teacher Trainer with the Suzuki Association of the Americas, one of only 10 in Canada.

In 1984, Elayne began teaching in Huron County, Ontario, and in 1988 she founded the Huron String School (HSS) when she moved to Goderich. The school offered violin, viola and cello instruction, orchestra, senior ensembles, group lessons, Theory/Music and Movement classes and a Baby/Toddler class. She also conducted a community band of all ages in Goderich, the “Goderich Laketown Band”, for 19 years.

After 26 years with HSS, Elayne began teaching full time with the Suzuki String School of Guelph (SSSG), teaching all ages and levels, and including the beginning orchestra class. She taught at SSSG for 14 years, including 12 years as conductor of the beginning string orchestras, and several years as coordinator of chamber music, workshops, and trips to Alberta and Newfoundland.

She has been on the faculty at Suzuki Institutes and workshops across the US and Canada, and has adjudicated for music Festivals throughout Ontario. She is the Past Chair of the Suzuki Association of Ontario, and is the current Director and Violin/Viola Coordinator for the Southwestern Ontario Suzuki Institute in Waterloo, Ont. each August. She is the Assistant Principal Second (2nd) Violin of the Guelph Symphony Orchestra, and has worked with several orchestras in Southern Ontario. One of the highlights of her career was travelling to China as a member of a professional orchestra that toured and performed around Beijing and Shanghai.

In 2018, expanding on her interest in Psychology and on helping families and children, Elayne completed a Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP), and is excited to incorporate positive psychology principles into her teaching.