CARE AND MAINTENANCE OF YOUR STRING INSTRUMENT

​Korinthia Klein is a violin maker, writer, musician, and mother of three living in the Bay View neighborhood of Milwaukee. Originally from Michigan, she has a BA degree in music from The Ohio State University with distinction in Music Cognition. She has performed with the York Symphony Orchestra in York, PA and the West Shore Symphony Orchestra in Harrisburg, PA. Currently she plays viola with Milwaukee's Festival City Symphony and mandola with the Milwaukee Mandolin Orchestra. She was on the faculty of the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music for about 20 years. Korinthia completed a four-year apprenticeship at the New World School of Violin Making in 2000 and worked for several years doing repairs and rehairs at Classical Strings before opening her own shop in 2008. You can follow her adventures in parenting and violin making on her blog.

 

Korinthia is the author of My Violin Needs Help! A Repair Diagnostics Guide for Players and Teachers. She is the co-owner and operator of Korinthian Violins. She builds violins and violas, does instrument repairs and bow rehairs, and can solve your Rubik's cube if you haven't rearranged the stickers. www.korinthianviolins.com

 

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MINDFUL PERFORMANCE: WHERE PREPARATION AND CONFIDENCE INTERSECT

Mark Davis is an accomplished pianist and an influential educator who has performed with jazz luminaries Eric Alexander, Peter Bernstein, Benny Golson, Slide Hampton, Tom Harrell, Jimmy Heath, Brian Lynch, Charles McPherson, Frank Morgan, and Phil Woods, among others. He is the founder and artistic director of the Milwaukee Jazz Institute. He also teaches privately and is on the music faculty of Alverno College. Mark is the author of two top-selling books, the Hal Leonard Jazz Piano Method and the Hal Leonard Jazz Piano Method Book 2. He is a founding member of the group We Six, which just released a new album entitled Vivid Dreams. www.markdavismusic.com.

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The Milwaukee Jazz Institute was created by dedicated jazz musicians and supporters who have a passion for preserving this music and passing it on for future generations to develop. Milwaukee has had a long and vibrant jazz history, and we look to continue the legacy of Tony King, Manty Ellis, Berkeley Fudge, Buddy Montgomery, David Hazeltine, and others who led the way. We collaborate with other organizations that share our vision of how this music can become an even more significant factor in shaping, revitalizing, and improving our city. We hope that MJI will be instrumental in furthering jazz in Milwaukee for many generations to come. www.milwaukeejazzinstitute.org

 

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LIGHTEN UP: THE ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE FOR MUSICIANS 

Alexandra Kassouf is a performer and teacher, based in Milwaukee, WI. She has performed as both a singer and a dancer with Opera Columbus, Queen City Opera, Cincinnati Chamber Opera, Folks Operetta, Contemporary Dance Theater, and the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company of Chicago. Alexandra is also a founding member of Avimimus, a vocal duo specializing in early music and new works. Her first piece, Boundaries, has been called “one of the top five” pieces presented at the long-standing performance art series. Other PTA performances include dancing with Bloom Dance Project and a premiere of songs from a cycle by Sarah Hutchings.

 

Here is what Alexandra says about the Alexander Technique; “It is a way of learning to find more ease by undoing your habitual tensions. It isn’t a discipline or a set of exercises. It also isn’t something you have done to you. By participating in a lesson, you are learning to think in activity and can begin to change your habits. The Alexander Technique can help you to improve your level of comfort and efficiency in whatever activities you are already doing. I initially became interested in the technique as a way to help me become a better singer. It didn’t take me long to realize that lessons were providing me a foundation of ease and freedom from which to move. That quality of being has allowed me to improve my experience of many of the activities of everyday life, not to mention activities that require training and skill.”

Alexandra earned a Master of Music degree from College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, and her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree is from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she also studied dance. www.alexandrakassouf.com

 

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VOCAL HEALTH: SELF-CARE FOR SINGERS

Victoria Benson Hora had a 15-year career performing principal vocal performance roles in European Opera Houses. She has been enjoying her "encore career" as a conductor and Vocal Music Director since 2007 at such institutions as Marquette University, UW-Milwaukee, and spent 15 years as the Vocal Music Educator, Drama Director, and Music Department Chair at Cedarburg High School until her retirement in 2021. Victoria is the 2014 recipient of a CIVIC MUSIC Educator Award in Vocal Music and is currently serving on the CIVIC MUSIC Board of Directors.

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