VIOLIN, TETRA STRING QUARTET

Native of Ottawa, Canada, Meghan Ruel has collaborated in chamber and orchestral settings in Canada and the United States, including the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, Luminato International Music Festival, Durango Bach Festival, Southwest Arts, Austin Baroque Orchestra, True Concord Voices and Orchestra, Arizona Philharmonic, Ben Verdery’s Hawaii Masterclass, Orford Arts Center and Domaine Forget. Meghan was Concertmaster with ProMusica Arizona Orchestra and Chorale from 2017 to 2023. She has taught and led music education programs at Harmony Project Phoenix, Phoenix Conservatory of Music, Arts at Nativity, Arizona String Teachers Association, and at schools including Pan-American Charter School and Desert Marigold, where she was the Instrumental Strings Teacher from 2016-2019. Meghan was additionally the Strings Director and Professor of Violin at Arizona Christian University from 2019-2022.

Meghan is currently a program manager at the Phoenix Conservatory of Music, where she holds a private studio and teaches for their award-winning College Prep Program. In 2021, Meghan and her husband Diego Miranda were awarded a Research and Development Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts for their violin and guitar ElectroBach concert series. They participated in the 2021 Tafelmusik Summer Baroque Institute and the Dorothy Delay Pedagogy Symposium at Juilliard. From 2016-2019, they led community outreach programs for college students at Madeline Island Chamber Music, a string quartet summer program in Wisconsin.

Meghan earned her Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from the University of Toronto and her Master of Music in Violin Performance from Arizona State University. Her teachers have included Joan Milkson, Annalee Patipatanakoon, Timothy Ying, and Jonathan Swartz.

Meghan is passionate about joining the Tetra String Quartet and is excited to further their mission by serving the Phoenix Metropolitan Area through performance and music education.

VIOLIN, TETRA STRING QUARTET

Heidi Wright is a co-founder and violinist in the Tetra String Quartet. She has a thriving Suzuki-based private studio and has taught violin, piano, and harp for over 22 years. As a member of Tetra, she has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and South America. Heidi is passionate about creating engaging educational performances that inspire audiences of all backgrounds and walks of life.

A native of Mesa, Arizona, Heidi has been a part of the local music community since she began playing the violin and piano as a young child. Heidi received a Bachelor's in Violin Performance from Northern Arizona University. She also holds a Master of Music in Violin Performance and Harp Performance from the University of Arizona and a Master of Music in Violin Performance and Pedagogy from Arizona State University.

Heidi has a strong background in education, both in and outside of music. She received a Master's in Mathematics Teaching Education from the University of Arizona and was a teacher of Junior High Math for a short time in Mesa Public Schools. Heidi also has taught in a variety of Suzuki Schools and Preparatory Programs. In 2018, Heidi volunteered as a music educator for the Daraja Music Initiative, an interdisciplinary program in Tanzania that bridges music education and conservation education. In 2023 she was selected as a judge for the Arizona Musicfest Young Musician Chamber Ensemble Competition. She has coached countless young musicians on chamber music throughout the valley through Tetra's TCMI Summer Workshops and Tempe Residency since 2013.

Heidi believes that music education can be used to connect and educate students about perseverance, awareness, communication, and empathy. She enjoys watching youth learn and win small victories over their struggles, witnessing that moment when a group of young musicians realizes that they can do hard things, create something beautiful, and then share that with others.

VIOLA, TETRA STRING QUARTET

Dr. Kim Hankins is the Violist of Tetra String Quartet and newly appointed Principal Violist of the Arizona Philharmonic. She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Germany, Luxembourg, and Iceland. With a passion for chamber music, Dr. Hankins has been featured as a Guest Artist and Chamber Music Faculty at Tetra Chamber Music Institute, Vianden Music Festival, and Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra’s ‘Stringmania.’ In January 2023, she was invited to perform in a chamber music recital with ASU Professor Dr. Katherine McLin and Steinway Artist James D’León. Over the years, she has worked closely with the members of the Pacifica Quartet, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Juilliard String Quartet, St. Lawrence String Quartet, Brentano String Quartet, and Brooklyn Rider.

Dr. Hankins has been working with conductorless ensembles since 2009. She was the viola and cello Sectional Coach at Tucson Junior Strings for two years, where she worked with 11 different conductorless orchestras and taught students ages 4-18 how to cue and lead their own performances without the assistance of a conductor. In 2010, Dr. Hankins was a member of the Reykjavik-based conductorless string orchestra 'Strengjasveitin Skark,' led by violist and now Icelandic Opera conductor Bjarni Frímann Bjarnason. In the Summer of 2012, Dr. Hankins had the incredible experience of working closely with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and learned their detailed approach to score study and efficient musician-led rehearsals.

As a trauma-informed RYT500, Dr. Hankins believes strongly in the power of mindfulness and meditation and how these practices can help musicians. In the Summer of 2020, they were a guest Yoga Teacher for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestral Institute. In the Summer of 2021, they were a returning American Viola Society Festival presenter on Finding a More Ergonomic Setup and Playing With Ease. Dr. Hankins joined Tetra String Quartet in 2021 with the desire to empower young musicians and cultivate musical experiences that are accessible and available to everyone in our community.

CELLO, TETRA STRING QUARTET

Dr. Jenna Dalbey is the cellist and co-founder of the Tetra String Quartet and has been performing and teaching in the Phoenix Metropolitan area since 2009. As a member of Tetra, Jenna enjoys creating opportunities that link performance with public service in Arizona and engaging audiences from every corner of the community, which reflects our belief that access to the arts is an essential human right.

Dr. Dalbey earned a Doctor of Musical Arts in Cello Performance at Arizona State University. Her dissertation (Community-Based Chamber Ensembles: How to Build a Career that Infuses Performance with Public Service) focuses on the philosophy behind developing community-based ensembles and the entrepreneurship skills groups must develop to have a successful career. She also holds a Master of Music from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor of Music from Arizona State University, primarily studying with Thomas Landschoot, Evelyn Elsing, and Peter Wiley.

Dr. Dalbey strongly believes in the power of chamber music to teach students how to be better human beings. Some of her favorite memories as a chamber coach include seeing students use empathy and compassion to uplift their colleagues in difficult moments. She has also seen students grow tremendously over the years with leadership skills and confidence as a result of their learning chamber music. As a member of Tetra, Dr. Dalbey was invited to teach for two summers at Stanford University’s Summer Arts Institute, “Why Music Matters.” In 2014 and 2015, the quartet was also selected to present sessions on their educational curriculum and musical entrepreneurship at the American String Teacher’s Association National Conference.

In 2017, Dr. Dalbey was featured in AZ Central's Who's Next: Arts List (a monthly recognition program showcasing influencers in different fields). She is also a proud Class 39 graduate of the prestigious Valley Leadership Institute. VL is a 9-month program that teaches leaders how to deepen their impact within their community.

VIOLIN

Violinist Spencer Ekenes enjoys an active performance career as a recitalist, chamber, and orchestral musician. Since 2019, Spencer has been a member of the Burn City String Quartet and later cofounded its partner ensemble, Broke Fiddles. Spencer is currently principal second violin with MusicaNova Orchestra and has performed frequently with The Phoenix Symphony, Arizona Opera, AZ Musicfest Orchestra, and Cactus Chamber Musicians. Spencer spends a significant amount of time in Mexico performing in chamber ensembles as well as serving as concertmaster for the OperaMaya Orchestra, where he has also been featured as a soloist. Passionate about the violin/piano duo repertoire, Spencer has performed solo and duo recitals in the United States, Mexico, and Norway. Additionally, Spencer has engaged as a concerto soloist with the BYU-Idaho Symphony Orchestra, Eastern Arizona College Symphony Orchestra, ASU Baroque Ensemble, BYU-Idaho Baroque Ensemble, University of Idaho Festival Orchestra, and the University of Montana Fall Festival Orchestra.

Spencer completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Violin Performance from Arizona State University. Under the mentorship of Dr. Katherine McLin (ASU) and Dr. Samuel Máynez Champion (Conservatorio Nacional de México), he compiled the first publication of the complete works for violin and piano by the late Mexican violinist/composer Samuel Máynez Prince as his culminating project for his doctoral degree. Dr. Ekenes has performed with the Tetra String Quartet and has participated in Tetra’s Chamber Music Institute as a coach and guest clinician. School presentations and violin/viola masterclasses have brought Dr. Ekenes to high schools, colleges, and universities in Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Kansas, and Washington state. Dr. Ekenes currently teaches an active studio of violin students in Mesa, Arizona.

VIOLIN

Having grown up in a multicultural family, Chandra has a special interest in discovering how music both expresses and supports the values of a community. She believes that by highlighting multicultural music in concerts, she can help minority populations feel seen and heard, and welcome all to celebrate the diversity of the human family. Chandra began playing violin at the age of 5 and has taught private violin lessons for 14 years. She received her BA degree with a focus on Southeast Asian theater from the University of Hawaii and completed her Masters degree in violin performance at ASU. Her focus as a violin teacher is to help youth develop their confidence through music, recognizing that the ultimate success in learning an instrument is not always playing at the highest level, but in translating the lessons learned in music to all other areas of life. When she met the members of the Tetra String Quartet, she knew immediately that they were all bonded by a common desire to use music as a vehicle for social good.

Chandra served as a member of Tetra String Quartet from 2018-2023.

CELLO

Dr. Yeil Park (pronounced ‘Yale’) is a dynamic cellist who enjoys his career as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician, and educator. He is a tenured member of Arizona Opera since 2014. Other orchestral engagements include Arizona Musicfest, Castleton Festival Orchestra where he sat assistant principal under maestro Fabio Luisi, and as a regular substitute with The Phoenix Symphony, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, and the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with members of The Cleveland Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, the Shanghai Quartet, the Brentano String Quartet, and The Ying Quartet. Other highlights include performing the Elgar Cello Concerto and Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations as the winner of ISU's Concert of Soloist competition.

Dr. Park was recently appointed as the cello faculty at Glendale Community College. He received his Doctorate in Cello Performance at Arizona State University, where he served as teaching assistant to Tom Landschoot and wrote his dissertation on the efficacy of Skype lessons through quantitative analysis. He received his MM in Cello Performance at Arizona State University and was the recipient of the Atsumi Cello Scholarship. He received his BM magna cum laude at Iowa State University, where he studied with George Work of the Ames Piano Quartet. Previous teachers include Dr. Julie McGinnis Sturm, Hans Jørgen Jensen, Stephen Geber, and Yehuda Hanani.

Outside of music, Dr. Park enjoys marathon training, cooking, baking and occasionally drawing on his Etch-a-Sketch.

VIOLIN
TCMI Summer Workshops

Hailed by a class of 2nd graders as “wreely nice and kind” and “the coolest man on erth,” Arizona native Taylor Morris enjoys blurring the line between violin and fiddle. Strongly believing we can learn more about the world through collaboration with others, he actively pursues musical projects in different genres. Currently, he is part of Tricia & Taylor, a genre-bending violin/fiddle duo with concert violinist Tricia Park, and a member of The Sound Accord, a string sextet that creates vibrant arrangements of folk music. After studying classical violin at Arizona State University with Dr. Katie McLin, he spent four years touring with Barrage, a world-music violin troupe based out of Canada. His travels, both with Barrage and personally, have led to performances in 48 states and 13 countries with musicians from a multitude of backgrounds, including Mike Block, Hanneke Cassel, Brittany Haas, Natalie Haas, Jeremy Kittel, Lauren Rioux, and the Tetra String Quartet.

Offstage, Taylor obtained a master's in education from Harvard University and is a passionate advocate for arts education. Since 2000, Taylor's teaching has taken him into classrooms around the country, from kindergartens to colleges, including as a continuing Guest Lecturer at Arizona State University. He frequently works with educators in professional development settings and has presented at the national conferences for the American String Teachers Association (ASTA), National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and at The Midwest Clinic. Cherishing his own childhood experiences at summer music camps, Taylor frequently teaches at camps around the country and directs his own camp for young musicians in the Phoenix area called StringPlay. During the school year, he is a committed private teacher with a dynamic studio of violinists and fiddlers. Additionally, Taylor is a founding co-director of the Gilbert Town Fiddlers (GTF), an extracurricular high school fiddle group that collaborates to create its own arrangements for performances. GTF students even designed and presented their own session on student-led arranging at the 2019 ASTA National Conference! Through his teaching, Taylor is ultimately on a mission to help students and educators alike experience the thrill of taking musical ownership and finding their own meaningful ways to make music.

VIOLA
TCMI Summer Workshops

Louis, a founding member of the Tetra String Quartet, is a passionate educator based in Rhode Island. He believes that every student can learn an instrument if they are provided with the right tools and a supportive environment. He encourages his students to focus on the process of learning instead of the finish line, emphasizing that excellence isn’t defined by perfection.

VIOLIN

Violinist Ava Wipff is a current junior undergraduate student at Arizona State University, where she studies under Dr. Katherine McLin. She enjoys teaching violin lessons, and has a small private studio of violinists based in Tempe. Her foundational teaching philosophy is to love playing your instrument, and to find enjoyment in every aspect of playing, practice, and performance.