From: East Islip, NY

I started teaching music in… 2004

I started teaching at the Conservatory in… 2010

My inspiration: My students inspire me to be a better teacher every day! 🙂

Few people know that I… love swing dancing, I enjoy learning languages, and I have a cat named Daisy.

Education: The Hartt School at University of Hartford – Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance Mannes College of Music at The New School – Master of Music in Cello Performance Suzuki Training in Books 1-8 at School for Strings with Pamela Devenport, Books 9-10 with Tanya Carey

I play and teach: Cello

Personal Teaching Statement: Having experience with the Feldenkrais Method, Dalcroze, and Music Mind Games, my versatile training allows me to approach my teaching from a visual, aural, or kinesthetic standpoint, depending on the student’s needs. One teaching method or explanation does not work for all students. This is why I approach lessons with each unique individual or group of students in a way that connects to them and the way that they learn best. My approach to teaching music is full of vivid analogies, hands-on activities to reinforce ideas, and questions to get my students to think for themselves not only to analyze what they are looking at on the page, but also how to approach getting an optimal sound out of their instruments. I am always looking for creative and out of the box ways to get a student to understand something, whether it is getting them up out of their seat, or doing an experiment to see what happens when we push boundaries. With these things in mind, my goal is for every lesson to be fun, educational, and productive.

Biography: Jenna Girone-Virgilio is the Head of the Suzuki Cello/Bass Department and the Suzuki Program Coordinator at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, and is on faculty at the New England Conservatory Prep Division and the New England Suzuki Institute. As a performer, Jenna has performed in venues across the world, including the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. as the Principal Cellist with the Mid-Atlantic Foundation for Asian Artists Opera; in Italy, as a part of the Opera, Theater, and Music Festival of Lucca; and acting on stage at New York’s Metropolitan Opera as the role of “cellist” in Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut.” Ms. Girone-Virgilio recorded the soundtrack to The China Question, a documentary directed by Brook Silva-Braga, which has been featured on CNBC. Additionally, she can be heard on Warner Brothers’ singer/songwriter Matt White’s album, Shirley. Jennifer was a member of the Red Door Chamber Players, Rhymes with Opera, and the String Orchestra of Brooklyn. She has performed with the OMNI Ensemble in Brooklyn and Staten Island, most notably performing Arnold Schönberg’s “Pierrot Lunaire”, and George Crumb’s “Vox Balanae”.