Teacher Biographies
Julie Smolin, Violin
Julie Smolin grew up in Rochester, MN, and began playing the violin when she was eight.
At the age of fourteen, she joined her mother to become a member of the Rochester Symphony Orchestra.
After graduating from high school, she was awarded a full scholarship to participate in the Congress
of Strings in Cincinnati. There, she was concertmistress under the direction of Morton Gould. After
receiving a B.A. in Music Education from Luther College in Decorah, IA, she taught junior high and
elementary orchestra in Red Wing, MN. During that time, she also studied the Suzuki Method of teaching
violin. After two years of teaching, Julie continued her violin studies with Eduard Melkus at the
Hochsschule fur Musick und Kunst in Vienna, becoming a member of the Maurice Ravel Chamber Orchestra
and performing throughout Europe. Now living in San Francisco, she is teaching Suzuki violin at the
Villa Sinfonia Foundation.