Congratulations, Ms. Jessica!

Please join us in congratulating faculty member, Jessica Wiersma, violin, who has accepted a position with the national tour of Hamilton. Ms. Jessica has been a valuable member of our ISA faculty since 2016, and we will miss her immensely. Her dedication to excellence and her commitment to her students have been so valuable to the ISA, and we are grateful for all Ms. Jessica has done for the ISA. Congratulations, Ms. Jessica!

We are pleased to announce that Ms. Yuri Uchida, current ISA Violin Faculty, will be able to take over for Ms. Jessica's students and teaching. Ms. Yuri is a violinist with extensive knowledge in performance and teaching. She completed her Bachelor of Music degree at Northwestern University with Almita Vamos.  During her senior year, she won a two-year fellowship with Civic Orchestra of Chicago, training orchestra of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, serving as Assistant Principal Second Violin in her second year.

She went on to obtain her Master of Music degree after the fellowship with Sibbi Bernhardsson, violinist from the Pacifica Quartet, where she was the recipient of the Jacob School of Music Scholarship Award and the Artistic Excellence Award.  During her time at Indiana, she received Beginning/Intermediate Violin training with the renowned Mimi Zweig and taught her String Academy students as well as her professor’s pre-college students.

In the summer seasons, Yuri has traveled all over the world to participated in number of festivals, such as Aspen Music Festival, Chautauqua Music Festival, Litomysl Masterclasses in Czech Republic by Milan Vitek from Oberlin Conservatory, the QuartetFest in Victoria, BC, and Astona International in Zurich, Switzerland.  She has also played in masterclasses by renowned violinists and professors, such as Rachel Barton Pine, Shmuel Ashkenazi, Paul Kantor, and William van der Sloot.
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Yuri completed her ECC Training in Deerfield, IL, her Suzuki Book 1 with Linda Stieg, and Suzuki Book 2 with Esther Fellows.  Currently, she resides in Indianapolis and can be seen performing regularly with major ensembles such as Nashville Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, and Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra

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