Michael Strauss , MM - New England Conservatory

As a teenager, I served as Principal Violist in the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, Massachusetts All-State, and MENC All-Eastern, and Assistant Principal in the Jeunesse Musicale World Orchestra. I also attended Kinhaven Music School, the Quartet Program at Saratoga (Castleman), and the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall (Alexander Schneider).

My primary teachers were Eugene Lehner, George Neikrug, Karen Tuttle, Heidi Castleman and Raphael Hillyer. Professionally, I served 10 years as Principal Violist in the Omaha Symphony, five as Principal in the Cedar Rapids Symphony, and nine as Principal in the Mid-Atlantic Symphony. I have played many recitals and for seven years, performed in the Mariner String Quartet, which concertized all over the Mid-Atlantic region.

For five years, I was the lead teacher in the Cedar Rapids Symphony School, where I developed the 3rd Grade Strings program and the After-School program. Also, in Omaha and Cedar Rapids I played countless educational programs for young people, developing many unique and varied programs. Since 1999, I have been Director of Education for the Mid-Atlantic Symphony,where I started the Twinkle-in-Ten program. I have private studios in Lansdale, PA and Chestertown, MD. As a teacher, I enjoy working with people of all ages and abilities. I recently prepared a young adult who won the position of Asst. Principal Violist in the Richmond Symphony, and over the years, prepared a half dozen candidates to winning positions with the Omaha Symphony. In Cedar Rapids, my students were the concertmasters in all three Middle School orchestras. But I also take great interest in working with special children, and have had notable success in developing talent for children on the autism spectrum.