MacPhail Presents: Influential Mentors – A Faculty Performance
Experience the magic of music as MacPhail’s renowned teaching artists take center stage. This exceptional concert, part of the MacPhail Presents Series, showcases the power of performance and the extraordinary talent of our faculty.
Enjoy works by some of the greatest composers in history, including Mozart, Florence Price, Gustav Mahler, Astor Piazzolla (and more). Don’t miss this opportunity to be inspired by the virtuosity and passion of our dedicated educators.
Featuring performance by Dr. Soojung Hong, Suzanne Greer, Jonathan Tauscheck, Jimmy Finch, Steven Zubich, Austin Wahl, and Claire Miller.
Performers
A prize winner of many national and international competitions, and an active pianist for solo and ensemble, Dr. Soojung Hong performs internationally and at regional concert venues in the Midwest. Her solo recital at Dame Myra Hess Concert Series at Chicago Public Library was broadcast live to on WFMT, Chicago’s classical music station and on the internet. She is a recipient of the Minnesota State Arts Board’s Artist Initiative Grant. Her professional video production of Fanny Mendelssohn’s cycle “Das Jahr” (“The Year”) is available at Fanny Mendelssohn Das Jar Dr Soojung Hong Piano. Her live performances of the work were illuminated by contemporaneous paintings and readings of poetry. She received sponsorship from Orpheus Classical and her digital album is going to be produced and distributed by Orpheus.
As a passionate educator, Dr. Hong instructs and teaches students of all ages and abilities. Her mission is to successfully prepare students for a lifetime of enjoyment of music, recitals, competitions and auditions. She is a frequent master class presenter and competition adjudicator. She is piano faculty at Normandale Community College and MacPhail Center for Music and adjunct faculty at North Central University. Soojung Hong holds a Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance from Ewha Women’s University, South Korea, as well as a Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Minnesota on a full scholarship.
Suzanne Greer is a distinguished pianist and educator, holding a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from St. Olaf College and a Master of Music in Piano Performance from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus. She furthered her expertise with a Certificate in Piano Pedagogy from the University of St. Thomas and is recognized as a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music.
From 1990 to 1991, Suzanne served as Artist-in-Residence for the Depot Outreach Artist Program in St. Louis County, showcasing her commitment to community engagement through the arts. Currently, she is a full-time Artist Teacher at the MacPhail Center for Music, where she instructs both Suzuki and Traditional piano students.
Suzanne’s dedication to music education led her to establish the SG Studio Academy of Music in her home, where she developed a comprehensive Suzuki Parent Education Program. Her innovative approach and commitment to excellence earned her two Teacher Development Scholarships from the Suzuki Association of the Americas. In 2009, she was honored with the Robert Schmitt Professional Development Grant from the Minnesota Music Teachers Association (MMTA) Foundation, followed by the prestigious Top Music Teacher Award from Steinway and Sons in 2017. Most recently, in 2022, she was celebrated as a Royal Conservatory Teacher of Distinction. Her students consistently achieve top honors in local and state competitions, a testament to her effective teaching methods and dedication.
Suzanne’s teaching philosophy centers on fostering a lifelong love of music, emphasizing its power to provide strength and healing. Inspired by Dr. Suzuki’s vision, she aims to nurture “fine and noble human beings” who carry on musical traditions that can transform the world.
Active in numerous professional organizations, Suzanne served as Certification Commissioner for the Music Teachers National Association from 2018 to 2020. She has also held leadership roles as President of the Minnesota Music Teachers Association, the Minneapolis Music Teachers Forum, and the Suzuki Piano Teachers Guild. In addition to her teaching and leadership roles, she performs regularly on the Artist Series of Thursday Musical. From 2014 to 2019, she participated in the Northwest Master Class in Seattle, Washington, where she studied under the esteemed Maestro Daniel Pollack.
Outside of her professional endeavors, Suzanne enjoys spending time with her supportive husband David and their two Fox Red Labradors, Vegas and Cam. Both she and David share a passion for motorcycling, having completed extensive trips across western states and around both the Lake Superior and Lake Michigan Circle Tours. Suzanne is also a certified motorcycle safety instructor for the State of Minnesota and Wild Prairie Harley Davidson, promoting safe cycling practices.
Jonathan Tauscheck was born in Minneapolis, MN, where he began his training at MacPhail. He earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s of Music at the University of Minnesota and a Doctorate at the University of Iowa in Piano Performance. Jonathan has written many works for solo piano which have been performed at liturgical services, weddings, and as commissions for dance performances. He has given composition recitals throughout the Midwest, including a two-piano arrangement of his Piano Concerto and Meditation written for piano and small orchestra. His original song set was awarded a monetary prize at the 2019 SongSLAM event intended to promote art songs from local composers, and four of his works were performed at Westminster Hall in Minneapolis at the 2019 Source Song Festival. Jonathan’s first CD, A Collection of Original Piano Works, was released in 2017 and included on the MNSpin Collection, a streamlining platform through the Hennepin County Library Collection. His second CD, A Collection of Original Vocal Works, has had public performances throughout the Midwest. He currently teaches at MacPhail Center and Lakeside Academy, as well as a private studio in Minnetonka. His freelance work includes serving as accompanist for Century College, Inver Hills Community College, and First Presbyterian Church of Maple Plain, as well as performing at Von Maur, Windows of IDS, the Lafayette Club of Minnetonka, and other venues around the Twin Cities.
Jimmy Finch is a Minneapolis based teacher and performer. He loves working with students of all ages and skill levels helping them build confidence in themselves through music!
Born in California, but raised in Michigan, Jimmy has performed across the US and in Italy in Opera, Musical Theatre, and Oratorio. He made his professional operatic debut in 2009 in “Carmen” with Opera Southwest in Albuquerque, and his New York City debut in 2018 singing the tenor soloist in Mozart’s “Requiem”.
For the last two years Jimmy has been pianist Lorie Line’s vocalist, traveling the US with her; the duo has performed over 80 concerts in 12 states.
Jimmy is equally at home in the choral world having spent over a decade conducting choirs; he is currently the director of music at Grace-Trinity Community Church where he has served since 2019.
Jimmy has a bachelors of music in vocal performance from Spring Arbor University, and a masters of music in opera performance and choral conducting from the University of New Mexico.
Steven Zubich enjoys a dynamic musical career. He is an alumnus of the Perpich Center for Arts Education in Golden Valley, Minnesota. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in music with a minor in art history from the University of Minnesota-Duluth where he studied with Tracy Lipke-Perry and Alexander Chernyshev. At UMD, he received extensive musical training with supplemental coursework in collaborative piano, pedagogy, musicology, theory, and composition. He was the winner of the Concerto and Aria competition and was awarded a Matinee Musicale scholarship. His studies continued at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where he earned his Master’s of Music in Piano Performance. He studied under the tutelage of Venezuelan concert pianists Elena Abend and Judith Jaimes.
Zubich’s vocations include performing, composing, teaching, and administration. His incidental compositions have been performed with theatrical companies such as Phantom Chorus and Wayward Theater. He is a faculty member at MacPhail Center for Music and maintains a private studio in St Paul. Since 2017, Zubich has managed the Northern Lights Music Festival in his Minnesota homeland. He has organized over 150 classical music performances throughout the Iron Range since his tenure with NLMF.
A fledgling harpsichordist, Zubich recently made his debut on the instrument since he began his studies in early 2023. He attended the respected Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute in Toronto and is applying to certification programs in Early Music. Currently, he studies the harpsichord with Tami Morse in St Paul.
Austin Wahl is an internationally acclaimed performer and teacher with nearly thirty competition prizes, including ten first-place finishes. He embraces traditional and unusual repertoire in performance and competition, ranging from well-known works of Bach, Sor, and Tarrega, to lesser-known masterpieces by composers including Gary Ryan, and Hans Werner Henze. Wahl premiered his groundbreaking solo transcription of Aaron Copland’s Rodeo suite (originally for orchestra) in February 2021. He is currently composing a solo guitar suite based on notable international events of the Cold War.
Recent concerts and masterclasses include engagements for Rochester Classical Guitar (NY), Minnesota Guitar Society, Great Lakes Guitar Society (NY), Southern Guitar Festival (SC), Guitar Society of Toronto, Guitar Hamilton (Ontario, Canada), and Festival Internacional de Guitarra en Lagos (Jalisco, Mexico).
Wahl does not limit himself to classical guitar, or indeed to the guitar itself.
Since childhood he has been a proficient bluegrass guitarist, performing arrangements and compositions by Doc Watson, Tony Rice, David Grier, and Adam Granger, among others. Wahl has performed with several bluegrass groups, including Great Vagrant, The Crooked North, and Kubick’s Rubes, and performed with the first in a masterclass for legendary banjoist Béla Fleck. He also is an avid fingerstyle player, often programming pieces by Preston Reed, Don Ross, Andy McKee, and Pierre Bensusan. Wahl is an experienced electric guitarist, performing and teaching rock, blues, and jazz – and even built his own electric guitar, dubbed the “Wahl-o-caster.”
Beyond the guitar, Wahl is an accomplished mandolinist. He performs and teaches classical and folk music on the instrument, including solo and ensemble works of J. S. Bach, American bluegrass, Irish fiddle, and Scandinavian traditions. Additionally, from 2017 to 2022, he served as the bass section leader for a Rochester, New York community choir, the Mount Hope World Singers, who perform outreach concerts in languages and styles from around the world. Learn more…
Claire Miller is a violinist and educator in the Twin Cities. She is an active performer, currently as a section violinist in the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra and the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, and enjoys playing in various ensembles throughout the Midwest.
Claire started teaching violin for MacPhail Suzuki Talent Education in the Fall of 2021, where she is also the Suzuki Department Coordinator. She is a proud alumnus of the MacPhail Suzuki program on both violin and piano! She has served as a violin teacher with the Suzuki Talent Education of the Lubbock Region (STELR) program and coached students in chamber music at various summer institutes. While completing her schooling at Texas Tech University, she served as a section violinist in the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra and as a violinist in the Graduate String Quartet. She has performed as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player throughout the Midwest, Texas, New Mexico, and Italy, including educational outreach concerts to local elementary schools in West Texas.
Claire is a graduate of the University of Minnesota where she earned her Bachelor of Music Degree studying with Sally O’Reilly and a graduate of Texas Tech University where she earned her Master of Music Degree as a Helen DeVitt Jones Fellow and Head Teaching Assistant to Dr. John H. Gilbert. She has also studied Suzuki Pedagogy with Teri Einfeldt, James Hutchins, and Kathy Wood and earned a minor in Management from the Carlson School of Management.