Meet Our Faculty
Our faculty are all highly skilled performers as well as pedagogues. All teachers have performance degrees from the top music conservatories in the world. Although no training is required to refer to oneself as a "Suzuki Teacher", our teachers have specialized training in various string pedagogies and especially Suzuki Talent Education. We have all received training that far surpasses many music educators in our field. Life long learning is something we pursue passionately for our students as well as ourselves. We follow the principles of the Suzuki philosophy, such as adhering to the belief that every child has talent when given the proper environment and the time to devote to developing a skill. We pay special attention to teaching the whole child through the process of character development which is nurtured through musical pursuits.
Meg Lanfear
Founder & Director
Violin
Meg Lanfear is a Suzuki Talent Education specialist and is the founder and Director of the Oak Park String Academy, a Suzuki violin and cello program located in Oak Park, IL. Founded in 2005, OPSA offers expert instruction in violin and cello, along with a full array of musical experiences designed to provide an extraordinary musical education for children ages 3 – 18, preparing students for a lifetime of music making at the highest level, regardless of professional aspirations.
Meg began her musical studies on piano at the age of 3 and then continued on to Suzuki violin lessons at the age of 7. The daughter of a Montessori school director, she comes from a strong background in education. Meg went on to complete her Masters in Violin Performance as well as Suzuki Pedagogy at the Cleveland Institute of Music--one of the nations top conservatories.
While at CIM, Meg taught at the Fairmount Fine Arts Center as well as the Cleveland Music School Settlement. Meg lived in Matsumoto, Japan for two months and studied at the Suzuki Talent Institute with Koji Toyota and performed in several concerts. Several other institutions were of significance in Meg's studies including the Western Springs School of Talent Education with Ed Kreitman (where she was on faculty for 10 years), the String Academy at Indiana University with Mimi Zweig and the Suzuki Talent Education Program at Augsberg College in Minnesota with Nancy Lokken.
Meg has studied pedagogy and Suzuki philosophy with some of the most illustrious Suzuki Teacher Trainers in the world, including: Linda Case, Carol Dallinger, Teri Einfeldt, Alice Joy Lewis, Edmund Sprunger, and Tom Wermuth. She has been profoundly influenced and inspired by her principal mentors Nancy Lokken and Almita Vamos. Meg has also been a past participant in the Juilliard Symposium in New York City--a 3 day conference with some of the most skilled pedagogues in the world, including Paul Kantor, Ida Kavafian, and David Kim.
Her students have consistently won high recognition in many solo competitions and contests, and are often selected to participate in prestigious performing groups including various All-Region Orchestras, all levels of the Chicago Youth Symphony and the Illinois Music Education Association’s All-State Orchestra. Her students have performed as soloists with orchestra, and have participated and won distinction in area competitions such as the DePaul Young Artists Concerto Competition and the OPRF Symphony Orchestra’s annual Concerto Competition. In addition to having become extraordinary individuals in many diverse fields, her students have been accepted to prestigious universities and music schools such as the New England Conservatory, Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.
Meg has won many awards for her scholarship, musicianship, and abilities as both a performer and as a teacher. In 2010, Meg became one of nine teachers who were the very first teachers in the country to earn the Certificate of Achievement from the Suzuki Association of the Americas, an award given to teachers that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to lifelong learning and excellence in their teaching.
As a professional performing musician, Meg has performed around the globe as soloist or orchestral member in some of the world’s most famous halls including, Chicago’s Symphony Hall, Cleveland’s Severance Hall, The Hollywood Bowl and Boston’s Tanglewood. She has also performed with some of the world’s most prestigious musicians including Joshua Bell, Edgar Meyer, Mark O’Connor, Leonard Slatkin, Daniel Barenboim, Joanne Foletta, Diana Krall, and Herbie Hancock. Meg has held principal or section positions with ensembles such as the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, the Illinois Philharmonic, Canton Symphony and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Meg performs regularly with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, which most recently welcomed former Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, Andrew Grams as Music Director.
This summer, Ms. Lanfear will be on the faculty of the Colorado Suzuki Institute in Beaver Creek and the PhoenixPhest in Ann Arbor, MI with Gabriel Bolkosky.
Meg lives in Oak Park, IL with her husband, Randy, and her two young boys, James (4) and Henry (1).
Elizabeth Huffman
Assistant Director
Violin
Elizabeth Huffman is an active performer and teacher in the Chicago area. Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Ms. Huffman began Suzuki Violin lessons with Mary Ellen Meyer at the age of six. Ms. Huffman later continued her studies with the Associate Concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Jerome Franke. She went on to receive a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from Western Michigan University, and a Master of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her teachers include William Preucil Jr., Stephen Rose, Linda Cerone, and Renata Artman Knific.
As a traditional teacher, Ms. Huffman taught for over a decade. Teaching positions in the past include the principle violin instructor at the Allegro Music Center in Park Ridge, IL from 2006-2011, and a violin instructor position at Main South High School in Park Ridge, IL. Over the last few years she has returned to the Suzuki Method she was raised in and has received Suzuki training from both Nancy Lokken and Ed Kreitman.
During the spring and summer of 2011, Ms. Huffman taught at the Western Springs School of Talent Education as a visiting private instructor. Ms. Huffman is committed to the Suzuki Method, and blends her experience in traditional string pedagogy with the philosophy of Suzuki Talent Education.
As a performer, Ms. Huffman has performed with multiple artists and orchestras across the country. Attending many of the nations top music festivals, she has had the opportunity to perform with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. In the past she has performed as Concertmaster or as a section member with the New World Symphony, the Lake Forest Symphony, the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra, the Canton Symphony, the Erie Philharmonic, the West Shore Symphony Orchestra, and the Kalamazoo Symphony.
Ms. Huffman currently holds the position of Assistant Concertmaster with the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, section violin with the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, section violin with the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, and section violin with the Sarasota Opera Orchestra.
Ms. Huffman is the Assistant Director of the Oak Park String Academy and is currently accepting new students.
Melissa Zindel
Collaborative Pianist
Piano
In addition to collaborating with students at the Oak Park String Academy, Melissa Zindel is the staff accompanist and coach at the Western Springs School of Talent Education and the Naperville Suzuki School. Melissa earned her Bachelor of Music degree in Keyboard Performance at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where she studied with Linda Perry. While at SIUE, she accompanied and toured with the SIUE Suzuki String Development and Tour Group programs. She completed her Master of Music degree in Accompanying and Chamber Music at the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston with Timothy Hester, and received full assistantships in accompanying.
Melissa has worked as a staff accompanist at the American Suzuki Institute at Stevens Point, the Preludio Violin Program at Ithaca College, the University of Houston and Greenbriar Suzuki programs, as well as Opera in the Ozarks, University of Central Arkansas, Hendrix College, and Georgia College and State University. She has also played for the masterclasses of Paul Kantor, Yo Yo Ma, David Perry, Rachel Podger, Marilyn McDonald, Fredell Lack, Norman Fischer and Jeffrey Solow.
Jessica Ondracek
Cello Instructor
Cello
Jessica Ondracek is well known as a chamber musician and performs throughout Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana. She has been the principle cellist of multiple orchestras and performs frequently in musicals, film festivals, bands, recitals, orchestras, and for religious services. Additionally, she is an active member and co-founder of the Sveltezza Chamber Ensemble.
Throughout the years she has accrued many musical achievements and honors: winner and soloist of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra concerto competition, winner and soloist of the Youth Symphony of Dupage Orchestra concerto competition, soloist in You’ve Got a Friend featuring Jonathan Birchfield and Kristi Manna, and soloist with the Youth Symphony of Dupage for the Illinois premier of Tan Dun’s symphony “Mankind.” She earned superior ratings at the Piano Federation Festivals where she was chosen to perform in the honor recitals on several occasions.
Notable performances include performing with The Buckinghams at the Arcada Theatre as well as premier performances of The Great Cry and The Ripper. She has performed at some of the finest venues in the Chicagoland area including Symphony Center, the Auditorium Theatre, the Palmer House, the Harris Theatre, Navy Pier, Wentz Hall, Ives Hall, the Casino Club, the Women’s Athletic Club of Chicago, and Ganz Hall.
In July 2008, she traveled throughout Bulgaria as a member of the International Chamber Music Festival, directed by Kamen Petkov. During this festival, she had the opportunity to perform with members the Sofia Symphony Orchestra. Jessica also gave performances in piano bars along the Black Sea as well as in courtyards and art galleries throughout the country. During the summer of July 2013, Jessica journeyed to Canada to study and perform on the shores of Lac Saint-Denis at the Laurentides Music Festival.
Jessica is a cello teacher at the Oak Park String Academy, adjunct faculty instructor at Lewis University, as well as an instructor at PM Music Center, Willowbrook High school, and proprietor of the Ondracek Music Studio. One of Jessica’s greatest passions besides performing is teaching music to her students. She enjoys teaching her students how to play their instruments to the best of their ability, as well as helping to develop a lifelong passion for music and the arts. Her studios give performances 4 to 8 times a year, engage in local competitions and festivals, and delight in weekly group classes.
Ms. Ondracek earned her Bachelors of Music at The Chicago College of Performing Arts while studying with Mr. Richard Hirschl, a cellist in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She has gone through extensive teacher training in the Suzuki method of education as well as become a founding member of a summer string program in the western suburbs of Chicago.