Sato Center for Suzuki Studies

Kimberly Meier-Sims Director, Sato Center for Suzuki Studies, became one of the youngest registered Suzuki Teacher Trainers in the country in 1988. As a faculty member, she oversees the Master of Music in performance and Suzuki Pedagogy degree program, conducting long-term teacher training & practicum courses. From 1996-2004, Ms. Meier-Sims was a full-time faculty member at the University of Memphis where she conducted long-term teacher training, was the Coordinator for the University of Memphis Suzuki String Program and Director of the University of Memphis Suzuki String Summer Institute. She holds a Bachelor's degree in education and performance from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, where she studied with John Kendall, the first American Suzuki pioneer. At Western Illinois University she received her Master's degree in performance, studying violin and pedagogy with Almita Vamos. The summer of 1986, Ms. Meier-Sims traveled to Japan for a six-week study with Dr. Suzuki. From 1984-1996 Ms. Meier-Sims was a violin instructor at the Preucil School of Music in Iowa City, where she also served as Suzuki Teacher Trainer, Faculty Program Assistant and Chamber Music Coordinator. She has published articles in the American Suzuki Journal and the Tennessee Musician. An active performer, Ms. Meier-Sims has played with the Memphis Symphony and has held the positions of associate principal second violin and first violin in the Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra. In 2001, she was recognized as one of Tennessee's outstanding educators by the Tennessee Governor's School of the Arts. She was the Violin Coordinator for the 2002 10th SAA National Conference in Minneapolis. In April 1999, she attended The Thirteenth World Suzuki Method Convention in Japan. Ms. Meier-Sims has taught Suzuki workshops in Cork, Ireland and throughout the U.S. She has taught summer institutes at Atlanta (GA), Chicago (IL), Columbus (OH), Denver (CO), Hartford (CT), Fairbanks (AK), Fort Worth (TX), Ithaca (NY), Louisville (KY), Memphis (TN), Spartanburg (SC), Stanford (CA) and Stevens Point (WI).

Mari Sato Mari Sato, violinist, is a member of the Cavani String Quartet and winner of numerous awards and prizes, including the Naumburg Chamber Music Award. Ms. Sato has toured throughout the United States and abroad with her quartet, including appearances at Carnegie Hall, Corcoran Gallery and Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and the Festival L'Epau in France. Ms. Sato has had the honor of performing with distinguished artists including members of the Cleveland, Juilliard, Miami, Ying, Emerson, Borodin, Amadeus, St. Lawrence and Colorado String Quartets, the Weilerstein Trio, Itzhak Perlman, Robert Mann, Anton Nel, Stephanie Blythe and Charles Neidich. Ms. Sato and her colleagues in The Cavani Quartet were named Musical America's Young Artists of the Year, received the ASCAP-Chamber Music America Award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music, the Guarneri String Quartet Residency Award, the Ohio Governor's Award and five Chamber Music America Residency Partnership Grants. Deeply committed to arts-education, Ms. Sato has given master classes and lecture demonstrations at music festivals, universities and public and private schools in communities all over the country. As a member of the faculty and Quartet-in-Residence at The Cleveland Institute of Music, Ms. Sato in collaboration with her colleagues has developed the Apprentice Program, Intensive Quartet Seminar, New Quartet Project and M.A.P. (Music, Art & Poetry) Project. She is a former artist-in-residence at the University of Texas and is currently visiting-artist at the University of Southern Illinois, Carbondale. She received her BM with distinction from the Cleveland Institute of Music and pursued graduate studies at the University of Michigan. Her teachers and mentors include Richard Lawrence, Ralph Aldrich, Julia Bushkova, David Cerone, David Updegraff, Paul Kantor, and Peter Salaff. In her spare time, Ms. Sato enjoys cooking, jogging, and spending time with her husband and two children in Shaker Heights.

Catherine Clyatt Schroth Catherine Clyatt Schroth holds bachelor of music and master of music degrees in cello performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music. She has played in numerous chamber ensembles with Cleveland musicians, including members of the Cleveland Orchestra. She is a registered Suzuki Teacher and currently teaches for the Sato Center for Suzuki Studies as well as the CIM Preparatory Department. During the summer, Mrs. Schroth teaches for the Opus 1/Credo summer music program in Oberlin, OH. In addition to teaching, Mrs. Schroth is currently pursuing a degree in Music Therapy at Cleveland State University.

Tanya Groys Piano. B.M., Moscow Musical College; M.M., Moscow Conservatory. Suzuki Certification, Piano 1-7, Chicago Suzuki Institute. Taught at the Moscow School of Music, Broadway School of Music, University of Akron, Fairmount Fine Arts Center. Has taught Suzuki Piano Workshops at Baldwin-Wallace College and other locations, under the auspices of the Suzuki Association of Northern Ohio. Performs as a soloist and collaborative pianist throughout the Cleveland area. Appointed to the CIM faculty, 2003.

Liesl Hook-Langmack Suzuki Violin, Viola. B.M. Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music; M.M. University of Akron. Principal studies with Dr. Gary Kosloski, Alan Bodman and Stephen Clapp. Suzuki Pedagogy with Michele Higa George at The Cleveland Institute of Music, Alice Joy Lewis, Teri and David Einfeldt and Linda Fiore. Participated in many Suzuki workshops, including those at Ithaca, Chicago, Ottawa University in Kansas, Stevens Point, WI, Cleveland and North Carolina. Member of the Mansfield Symphony, substitute with the Erie Philharmonic and Canton Symphony. Appointed to faculty, 1994.

Melissa Kraut Cello, Suzuki Pedagogy, is also a teacher and coordinator of cello for the Preparatory Division string department and the Sato Center for Suzuki Studies. Dr. Kraut is a highly recognized and sought-after pedagogue. In the summers, she is a faculty member at the acclaimed Meadowmount School of Music in upstate New York, where she teaches cellists from around the world. Prior to her appointment at CIM, Dr. Kraut served as associate professor of cello at the University of Central Florida (UCF). While in Orlando, she was the educational/artistic director for A Gift for Music, a string program that provides free instruments and instruction to 900 inner-city children. Dr. Kraut was on the summer faculty at the Interlochen Center Arts for nine summers and served as the area coordinator for strings for two years. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from CIM, a Master of Arts degree from the University of Iowa and a Doctor of Music degree from Northwestern University. Her principal instructors were Alan Harris and Hans Jorgen-Jensen. She was appointed to the CIM faculty in 2006. E-mail

Tracy Rowell Double Bass. B.M., magna cum laude, Rice University; M.M., Boston University. Teachers include Paul Ellison and Edwin Baker. Has taught at the Univeristy of Akron and the 2001 Institute Internationale Francois Rabbath/George Vance Summer Bass Workshop. Maintains a private studio in Cleveland Heights. Performs with Apollo's Fire, Cleveland's Baroque Orchestra and the Canton Symphony Orchestra. Former member, National Arts Centre Orchestra (Assistant Principal Bass). Appeared as concerto soloist with Apollo's Fire and the Canton Symphony. Appointed to faculty, 2004.

Laura Shuster Suzuki Viola. B.M., Cleveland Institute of Music; M.M., Peabody Institute of Music in Performance and Pedagogy. Studied with Victoria Chiang, Heidi Castleman, Erika Eckert and Marcia Ferritto. Appointed to CIM faculty, 2001.

Stephen Sims Violin, Sato Center for Suzuki Studies CIM and at Denison University. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in performance and pedagogy from the University of Iowa, where he won the Pelzer Fellowship Award in performance, a Master's Degree in performance from CIM, where he was awarded the Jerome Gross Memorial Prize in violin and the Alumni Association Valedictory Prize and a Bachelor's Degree in performance from the University of Illinois, graduating with high honors. His principal teachers include Leopold LaFosse, Linda Cerone, David Russell, David Updegraff, Catherine Tait, Sergiu Luca and Barbara Jackson. An orchestral musician for many years, Sims served as Assistant Principal Violin of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra from 1998-2002, Concertmaster of the Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra from 1988-94 and Assistant Concertmaster of the North Arkansas Symphony Orchestra while in his junior year of high school. He has performed as soloist with the Cedar Rapids Symphony Orchestra, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, the Bethany College/Lindsborg Community Orchestra, the Emporia State University Orchestra and the Delta Symphony Orchestra. He is a frequent recitalist, performing throughout the U.S. and in Ireland. Prior to his appointment to the CIM Faculty in 2004, Sims held teaching positions at the University of Memphis Community Music School, the Preucil School of Music in Iowa City and the Cedar Rapids Symphony School of Music. His students have won concerto competitions, served as concertmasters for All-State and national youth orchestras, and continued on to successful careers in music. In 2000, the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts recognized him as one of Tennessee's outstanding educators.