Faculty Bios

Therese Fetter, a native of Dublin, Ireland, began her violin studies at the Irish College of Music. She received a Master of Music degree in Violin Performance from the University of Northern Iowa. Her Suzuki training has included work with Doris Preucil, Martha Holvik, Barbara Barber, Almita Vamos, Yuko Honda and Bill Starr. She has had an extensive career as an orchestral performer in the US and abroad, most recently as concertmaster of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra.

Ms. Fetter joined the faculty of the UNI Suzuki School in 1978, served as Director from 1986-2000, and through her association with that school has touched the lives of hundreds of families in the Cedar Valley. Under her leadership the UNI Suzuki School initiated two youth orchestras, created an outreach and performance group of advanced violinists (called "Fiddlesticks"), introduced a comprehensive theory curriculum, and added flute and clarinet programs. In 1997, in collaboration with Center City Arts, she helped establish "Music Works," a program in Waterloo that provides subsidized violin lessons for inner-city children.

Over the past fifteen years Ms. Fetter has served as a role model and mentor for numerous student string teachers who now teach throughout the United States and as far away as Saudi Arabia. Her former students have gone on to study and play the violin at such schools as Harvard, the Cleveland Institute, Northwestern, Indiana University, the Eastman School of Music, St. Olaf College and at virtually every college and university in Iowa.

Todd Williams began his musical studies as a Suzuki student, and went on to earn a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Minnesota in violin performance. He also completed extensive Suzuki training at the University of Minnesota, studying with Mark Bjork, and was an intern for the Suzuki program at the McPhail Center for the Arts in Minneapolis. Before joining the UNI Suzuki School faculty in 2003, he was a faculty member at the St. Paul Conservatory and taught Suzuki at the ABC Montessori International School in Bloomington. He is a member of the first violin section of the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony. Todd is also a zealous handyman/carpenter, and enjoys juggling, cooking, and fixing things!

Tara Payne joined the UNI Suzuki School faculty in 2004. Tara is a native of Cedar Falls, and was a student in the UNI Suzuki School, where she performed with the Northern Iowa Youth Orchestra and “Fiddlesticks.” She was a violin student of Therese Fetter. Tara received a bachelor’s degree in Christian Education with a music emphasis from Embassy University and has studied Suzuki teaching at the Western Spring School of Talent Education, Chicago and Toronto Suzuki Institutes with Ed Kreitman, Nancy Jackson, Joanne Melvin, and Karen Kimmett . Tara has also pursued studies in linguistics and enjoys traveling world-wide.

Julia Trahan teaches viola, string pedagogy, and music theory at the University of Northern Iowa. In 2003 she was also appointed Director of the UNI Suzuki School. She is an active solo, chamber and orchestral performer both in the US and abroad. Dr. Trahan received the D.M.A. degree from the University of Georgia, where she was the Director of the Pre-College String Program. She received her M.M. (string pedagogy and music history) and B.M. (performance) degrees from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. She has completed Suzuki training with Ed Kreitman, Terri Einfeldt, Doris Preucil, and William Preucil. Prior to joining the UNI faculty, Dr. Trahan taught at the University of Georgia's Pre-College Program; Toccoa Falls College; Clarke Middle School; Settlement Music School (Philadelphia); Temple University's Music Preparatory Division; and the Brenau Suzuki School.

Ute Brandenburg has been a teacher with UNI Suzuki since 1998. She is a violist with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra, and also frequently performs with the Cedar Rapids Symphony. Ute is a graduate of the Hochschule fuer Musik und Theater in Hannover, Germany. She completed Suzuki training with William Preucil, Nancy Lokken, and Helen Brunner. She lives in Cedar Falls with her husband Christian, a violin maker, and daughters Charlotte, a Suzuki violinist, and Mathilde, who loves to sing Suzuki tunes.

Rebekah is a violin music education major at the University of Northern Iowa, where she studies with professor Frederick Halgedahl. She was a Suzuki student herself, and has completed Suzuki teacher training at the Stevens Point Suzuki Institute under Nancy Lokken. Rebekah is a member of the Northern Iowa Symphony Orchestra, the UNI Student Chapter of the American String Teachers Association (president), and the music service sorority Sigma Alpha Iota. She has been teaching for the UNI Suzuki School as a student teacher for the past two years.

Holly Schult is an undergraduate violin student at UNI, where she is a student of Dr. Julia Trahan. Holly is a graduate of the UNI Suzuki School, where she studied with Therese Fetter and Ute Brandenburg. She has taken Suzuki teacher training courses with Martha Shackford and also with Michelle Higa George at the Chicago Suzuki Institute. She is a member of the Northern Iowa Symphony Orchestra. Holly also enjoys interior design, collecting antique books, and reading.

Cellist Suzanne Bullard joined the UNI Suzuki School faculty in (January) 2002. She teaches all of the private cello lessons and group classes and also coaches student chamber ensembles.

Suzanne received a BM in cello performance from Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory (OH), a Graduate Performance Diploma in cello from the Longy School of Music (MA), and a MM in cello performance from the University of Northern Iowa. Her teachers have included Jonathan Chenoweth, Ann Alton, Andrew Mark and Regina Mushabac.

Suzanne received her Suzuki training at various summer institutes with teacher trainers Catherine Walker, Nancy Hair, and Carol Tarr. Prior to joining the UNI Suzuki School, Suzanne taught privately in New York and Massachusetts, and for the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory Preparatory Division in Ohio. Suzanne is a member of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony and loves playing chamber music, especially string quartets. She lives in Cedar Falls with her husband, Tim Purdum, their son, Elliot, and their cats Cleo and Sabrina.

A native of Waterloo, IA, Hunter Capoccioni began his musical training on the double bass at the age of nine. During high school Mr. Capoccioni won the Lucy P. Weed String Competition in Yankton, South Dakota and the same year was a finalist in the American String Teachers Association Competition for bassists 19 and under. Mr. Capoccioni holds bachelor and master of music degrees in double bass performance from Rice University, where he studied with Prof. Paul Ellison.

Mr. Capoccioni has already had an impressive career as a performer; he is the former principal bassist of the Norrlands Opera Orchestra in Umeå, Sweden and the Norwegian Opera in Oslo, Norway. Other teachers include Dr. Fred Rees, Diana Gannett, and Gary Karr. Mr. Capoccioni is currently an adjunct instructor of double bass at the University of Northern Iowa and the Artistic Director of the Cedar Valley Chamber Music Festival. In addition to teaching bass for the UNI Suzuki School, he is also the Music Director of the Northern Iowa Youth Orchestra.

Jacquelyn Venter Ridder, a Cedar Falls native, is the interim principal harpist of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra. she has also performed with the Cedar Rapids Symphony, the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, the Oberlin Orchestra, the Oberlin chamber Orchestra, and the UNI performing ensembles. In 2004, she was featured soloist at the Crème de la Crème Benefit concert for the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center.

While at Oberlin she studied with Salzedo Summer Harp Colony in Camden, Maine. Her many teachers include Yolanda Kondonassis, Alice Chalifoux, Mary Beckman and Gretchen Brumwell.

Jennifer Wagaman has completed classes for her Master of Music degree at the University of Northern Iowa and will give her graduate recital October, 2006. While at Luther College and UNI she has been a member of the Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Chamber Ensembles, and Flute Choir. At UNI she is the flute instructor for the New Horizons Band. She has taught flute and piano lessons for over five years to a range of ages from 4 to76.

Tim received a bachelor’s degree in music education from the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory in Ohio, and a master’s degree in composition from the Longy School of Music in Boston. He has taught elementary, middle and high school general and vocal music in Massachusetts and in Iowa, most recently in the Independence, Iowa School District. Tim is certified for all levels of Orff-Schulwerk teaching, and is in demand as a clinician at workshops across the country. He is also an active singer-songwriter, and lives in Cedar Falls with his wife, Suzanne Bullard. Tim is also a talented juggler and excellent vegetarian cook!