Birdsall

Music Studios

Claudia Birdsall

I grew up in Colorado Springs, studying violin privately and playing in excellent public school music programs as well as the Colorado Springs Community Orchestra, where I was concertmaster in my senior year of high school. I attended the University of Denver and during my senior year was also concertmaster of the Young Artists Orchestra of Denver. At DU I studied with James Maurer, and received a Bachelor of Music cum laude in violin performance, and also took my first Suzuki teacher training classes.

After college I was a member of the Colorado Springs Symphony and the CS Symphony Chamber Orchestra. I also played as part of the Aspen String Quartet, and performed with many local churches, choirs, and the Opera Festival. I had the privilege of soloing with the Pueblo Symphony on Lalo’s Symphonie Espangnole.

I maintained my own private teaching studio in southern Colorado for 26 years and attended many Suzuki Institutes in various states while continuing my training in violin and music theory. My Teacher Trainers include Barbara Barber, Allen Lieb, Joe Kaminsky, Ellie LaRoux, and Barbara Rubenstein. I coached for the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony and also taught violin at the University of Southern Colorado (now CSU-Pueblo).

After moving to Florida in 2012 I began teaching at a local music school and joined the Venice Symphony as assistant concertmaster. I also played with the Anna Maria Island Concert Chorus and Orchestra and was featured as a soloist with them on two occasions. I have had the great honor to serve as a coach for the Perlman Music Program Suncoast Super Strings for seven years.

I love working with students and families to help them pursue their passion for music and their long-term goals.

Bob Birdsall

My music education started when I was five years old with piano lessons from my grandmother. I attended concerts in my home town of Midland, MI where my father was concertmaster of the local orchestra. I transitioned from piano to violin at age seven, winning or placing in local music competitions in my Junior and Senior High years. I attended several summer sessions at prestigious Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan. I played the renowned Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with my high school orchestra.

I studied under Fulbright scholar Alfio Pignotti at Eastern Michigan University, where I attained the rank of concertmaster, performed solo and chamber recitals, played with a Renaissance ensemble, and soloed with the orchestra, once as concerto competition winner, and once to rehearse the orchestra for a visiting soloist. I spent two summers as first violinist of the resident string quartet at Blue Lake music camp.

I played in several state of Michigan orchestras and ensembles including a Kennedy Center performance with the Northwood Symphonette Chamber Orchestra. I moved to Colorado Springs CO after winning an audition to the Colorado Springs Symphony (later the CS Philharmonic), playing in the first violin section. While in Colorado I also did strolling violin gigs.

While EMU as a teaching assistant, I started learning the Suzuki approach to violin. I took my first Suzuki instruction with Geri Arnold, a well known Suzuki teacher in the Ann Arbor area. I went on to take formal Suzuki training at Summer Institutes and have taught Suzuki Violin for several decades. I also conducted a Junior High Orchestra in Colorado Springs.

In 2005, I pursued a lifelong interest, taking up the guitar. I have taken lessons with a jazz guitarist, a rock guitarist, and a Classical/Suzuki guitarist, learning technique and pedagogy. I’ve performed solo guitar at coffee shops, weddings, and played one “rock” concert at an Art Fair!

I use the Suzuki Method for Violin and Classical Guitar due to its elegance, learner friendliness, and gradual yet thorough features. I also teach traditional violin, and general guitar.

Ross Birdsall

I am an active, Tampa-based music teacher, composer, and clinician. I have worked with numerous individuals and ensembles throughout Colorado, Utah, and Florida. I hold a Bachelor of Music degree from the Metropolitan State University of Denver where I studied percussion with Mark Foster and Peter Cooper, as well as music composition with Fred Hess, Cherise Leiter, Leanna Kirchoff, and David Farrell. I am currently the Percussion Director for the H.B. Plant high school band program.

I have an extensive history with the Pageantry arts, including a four-year stint performing with the Blue Knights percussion ensemble based in Denver, Colorado. I have been teaching and designing in the marching arts world since 2009 and I have written music for multiple state medalist percussion ensembles including Ponderosa high school, Provo high school, and Altitude Percussion where I served as the assistant director for two years.

While much of my music is for percussion, I have also written pieces and arrangements for chamber and string ensembles as well as for wind ensemble. I have written for various levels ranging from middle school performers to professional music groups in many settings including performances by the Perlman Super Strings, university recitals and concerts, and festivals such as the USF Marimba Festival.

I love to work with students from diverse backgrounds and firmly believe that the experience of music is the foundation for learning music - if you enjoy what you’re doing, you will remember it. I maintain an active music studio focusing on percussion and music theory and composition.