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MEMBER'S BIO
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Ann Montzka-Smelser, viola, member, Virtuosi Chicago |
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Ann Montzka-Smelser studied violin and viola with the late Pierre Menard of the Vermeer Quartet at Northern Illinois University. In between receiving her Bachelors in Music Education and Masters in Performance and Pedagogy, Ann studied with Dr. Shinichi Suzuki at the Talent Education Institute in Matsumoto, Japan. In college, Ann was first prize winner in the Blanch Ellis Concerto Competition. She received the Byron Hester Outstanding Teacher Award in June 2003.
Ann has toured extensively with the Ruggieri String Quartet under Columbia Artist Management. She has held principal positions in the Rockford, Fox Valley and Illinois Valley Symphonies and is currently the concertmaster of the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
In the Summer, Ann is on faculty at the Colorado Suzuki and Chamber Music Institute at Snowmass, Colorado, the Chicago Suzuki Institute and the Texas State University Suzuki Institute in San Marcos, Texas. Ann is also the Director of NIU' s Community School of the Arts Suzuki violin program.
Ann lives in DeKalb, Illinois with her husband, Linc Smelser and their two children Genevieve and Benjamin. |
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