https://www.soundingpointacademy.com/debbie-devine daily 0.75 2026-08-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec0c5cc51d51a5b53e71d3d/c7796d8f-8b64-4c1a-a521-b6746d226fd5/p_Debbie-Devine-07888m2600o.jpg Debbie Devine - Debbie Devine Debbie Devine has been an award-winning theatre director and a respected leader in the field of arts education for over three decades. She has been the Chair of the Drama Dept. of The Colburn School of Performing arts for over 30 years. She is also a theatrical director with the LA Philharmonic and is thrilled to have directed pieces in the gorgeous spaces that are Disney Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. Debbie is the co-founder and Artistic Director of L.A.’s 24th STreet Theatre, which has created award-winning professional theatre and model arts education programs for thousands of students and teachers since 1997. Debbie’s work with musicians has been a big part of her growing resume. Her Presentational Speaking Skills class has been utilized by The LA Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony, the Pacific Symphony, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, ICadenza, and numerous individual artists. Her emphasis is on personal connection to the audience, and the power of the voice as an instrument of communication, which includes vocal health and the regimen and strategies that are important to a successful performer. Debbie’s work as an actor has earned her three Drama-Logue Critics’ Awards, a Robby Award, an L.A. Weekly Award, LA Parent Magazine’s Best Westside Children’s Theatre Award, and the Women In Theatre Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Los Angeles Theatre. She recently earned LA County Arts Commission’s Professional Designation in Arts Education, and is the recipient of the USC Rossier School of Education’s Innovation and Leadership Award, and won LA’s County Music Center’s 2001 Bravo Special Mention for her work in Arts Education. She is also the proud recipient of the 2011 Inspiring Women Award, presented by the LA Sparks and Farmers Insurance. Debbie was awarded the 2013 LA Weekly Award for Best Direction, for 24th STreet's Theatre for Young Audiences piece, Walking the Tightrope, which toured nationally in the 2014-2015 season, concluding at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. https://www.soundingpointacademy.com/curriculum daily 0.75 2022-03-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec0c5cc51d51a5b53e71d3d/1589763919117-GVWG2RPX1SIO1K7VNFOV/strokedwhite.png https://www.soundingpointacademy.com/simon-james daily 0.75 2026-08-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec0c5cc51d51a5b53e71d3d/1589767207204-8F75PY5LZR6ENNLIHEHJ/Simon+James.jpeg Simon James - Simon James Australian violinist, Simon James, Professor of Violin at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, is in demand as a guest teacher throughout the US and Canada and in the UK, Australia, Singapore, China, and Australia. In the summer he can be found teaching at Center Stage Strings, the Cambridge and Liberec International String Academies, Encore Chamber Music Festival, and the Brian Lewis Young Artists Program. Since Mr James has headed the Coleman Studio his students have won the Menuhin, Stradivarius, Stulberg, Vancouver International, MTNA National, and were laureates at Spohr, Kochian, Johansen, Grumiaux, and Postacchini Competitions. Often featured on NPR’s “From the Top” they have received scholarships from the Jack Kent Cooke and Dorothy Richard Starling Foundations. They have performed concerti with the Detroit, Calgary, and Seattle Symphonies, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Liszt Chamber Orchestra, Berlin Koncerthaus Orchestre, and London Philharmonia among many others. Their festival performances include Aspen, Kronberg, Morningside Music Bridge, Heifetz Institute, Perlman Music Program, Juilliard Starling-Delay Violin Symposium, and New York String Orchestra Seminar. His students regularly continue their studies at Curtis, Colburn, Juilliard, NEC, Royal Academy, and the San Francisco Conservatory among others. Former students have been awarded a Davidson Fellowship and an Avery Fischer Career Grant and have gone on to win positions in the New York Philharmonic, St Louis Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. A thirty-year veteran of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and a founding member of the Australian World Orchestra, Mr. James has been a member of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Orchestra and performed at the music festivals of Tanglewood, Ravinia, Grand Teton, St. Barths, and Classical Tahoe. As concertmaster of the Northwest Sinfonia, Mr. James can be heard on hundreds of motion-picture sound tracks and he has performed live with Pearl Jam, Elton John, Billy Joel, A R Rahman and many others. https://www.soundingpointacademy.com/robert-lipsett daily 0.75 2026-08-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec0c5cc51d51a5b53e71d3d/1589765998374-4M3SK2UPB7QUEBQE2N7Y/Robert+Lipsett.jpg Robert Lipsett - Robert Lipsett Mr. Robert Lipsett holds the Jascha Heifetz Distinguished Violin Chair at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, California where he has been on the faculty for over 25 years. In addition, he taught at the University of Southern California as a tenured professor and Cal State University–Northridge. His students have consistently won important competitions including the Julius Stulberg Awards, the Yehudi Menuhin Competition, Irvine M. Klein International Violin Competition, Hannover International Violin Competition, and the International Tchaikovsky Competition. Several have received highest honors from the National Association for the Advancement of the Arts and have been recognized as Presidential Scholars. This is the highest award the United States government can bestow on a high school student. His students hold principal positions with leading orchestras including Concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony, Principal Associate Concertmaster and Assistant Concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, and Concertmaster of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Lipsett’s students have performed as soloists with major orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, Boston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra as well as many appearances on national and international television. Mr. Lipsett received his B.A. in Music from California State University-Northridge. Principal teachers included Ivan Galamian, Ruth Lasley, Zelman Brunoff, Melvin Ritter, Endre Granat. He also serves on the faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and has given master classes at major schools around the world. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Teachers Award from the White House Commission for Presidential Scholars. In addition, Mr. Lipsett has been an active solo artist, chamber music performer, orchestral musician and freelance commercial musician in motion pictures, television and recording industry. https://www.soundingpointacademy.com/apply daily 0.75 2026-03-17 https://www.soundingpointacademy.com/david-halen daily 0.75 2026-08-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec0c5cc51d51a5b53e71d3d/1589792049251-R7WZBYLJR8JC8E7CHTW2/David+halen.JPG David Halen - David Halen David Halen is living a dream that began as a youth the first time he saw the St. Louis Symphony perform in Warrensburg, Missouri. Born in Bellevue, Ohio, he didn’t have to look far for his musical influences: his father, the late Walter J. Halen, was also his violin professor at Central Missouri State University; his mother, a former member of the Kansas City Symphony; and his older brother, co-concermaster of the Houston Symphony Orchestra. Halen began playing the violin at the age of six, and earned his bachelor’s degree at the age of 19. In that same year, he won the Music Teachers National Association Competition and was granted a Fulbright scholarship for study at the Freiburg Hochschule für Musik in Germany, the youngest recipient ever to have been honored with this award. In addition, Halen holds a master’s degree from the University of Illinois studying with Sergiu Luca. Halen served as Assistant Concertmaster with the Houston Symphony Orchestra under Sergiu Comissiona and Christoph Eschenbach until winning associate concertmaster of St. Louis, where he was permanently named Concertmaster in September 1995. He has soloed with the orchestra in 23 different violin concerti. In addition, he has soloed with the Houston, San Francisco and West German Radio (Cologne) symphonies, and has led the Toronto and Detroit Symphonies. He also led the Cincinnati Symphony on a three week European tour in 2017. During the summer he teaches and performs extensively, serving as Concertmaster and teaching violin at the Aspen Music Festival and School. He has also soloed, taught and served as Concertmaster extensively at the Orford Arts Centre in Quebec, the Manhattan School of Music, Indiana University, the National Youth Orchestra, the Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, and the New World Symphony. In the fall of 2012, Halen in addition became a full-time violin professor at the University of Michigan, from which numerous students have started successful careers. As cofounder and artistic director of the Innsbrook Institute, Halen coordinates a weeklong festival, in June, of exciting musical performances and an enclave for aspiring artists. In August, he is artistic director of the Missouri River Festival of the Arts in Boonville, Missouri. His numerous accolades include the 2002 St. Louis Arts and Entertainment Award for Excellence, and an honorary doctorates from Central Missouri State University and from the University of Missouri-Saint Louis. David Halen plays on a 1753 Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin, made in Milan, Italy. https://www.soundingpointacademy.com/danielle-belen daily 0.75 2026-08-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec0c5cc51d51a5b53e71d3d/9d89a9bb-5f9c-487f-90fc-ddc4d37e3e4d/Danielle-Belen-2022-scaled-1.jpg Danielle Belen - Danielle Belen Professor of Violin at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance in Ann Arbor, Danielle Belen is already making a name for herself as a seasoned pedagogue with a strong studio of young artists. Her students have won major prizes in national and international competitions including the Menuhin, Stulberg and Klein competitions, and hold positions in professional orchestras worldwide. Winner of the 2008 Sphinx Competition, Ms. Belen has appeared as a soloist with the Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Nashville and San Francisco Symphonies, the Boston Pops, and the Florida and Cleveland Orchestras. Zachary Lewis from the Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote “Violinist Danielle Belen… captivated every ear with an assured, impassioned performance of Ravel’s Tzigane, knocking off the daunting showpiece as if it were a trifle.” Ms. Belen released her debut Naxos recording of works by living composer Lawrence Dillon in 2009 to much acclaim. Soon after, she commissioned “Multiplicity”, a piece by Dillon for six virtuoso violins which she premiered along with her students. A graduate of the USC Thornton School of Music and the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles, Ms. Belen joined the faculty of the Colburn School in 2008. In addition to maintaining her own violin studio, she was the teaching assistant to renowned pedagogue Robert Lipsett. During that time, Ms. Belen also served as the Director of the Ed and Mari Chamber Music Institute at the Colburn School of Performing Arts. In 2010, Ms. Belen founded Center Stage Strings, a summer camp and performance festival for gifted young musicians in central California. After gaining national attention, CSS moved to the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor as part of MPulse, a summer program at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance. As the Artistic Director and head of the violin faculty, she has attracted students and seasoned artists from around the world. Lynn Harrell, James Ehnes, Arnold Steinhardt, Sarah Chang, William Hagen, Rohan de Silva and Stefan Jackiw have joined to perform in support of the program As the winner of the 2014 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, Ms. Belen performed for Justice Sonia Sotomayor and her guests at the Supreme Court in Washington DC, where she was awarded a $50,000 career grant. In turn, she used that money towards a matching campaign for Center Stage Strings, doubling the amount into $100,000 for student scholarships. Her passion for pedagogy can be seen in her vibrant and unique teaching style, made accessible through a host of videos available to the public through her YouTube Channel and other social media outlets. Ms. Belen plays on a violin made in Mantua, Italy by Stefano Scarampella. https://www.soundingpointacademy.com/home daily 1.0 2026-07-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec0c5cc51d51a5b53e71d3d/1589776661041-X72RB0V66S2LLB450GBU/FABIOLA_KIM-9940.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec0c5cc51d51a5b53e71d3d/1646269859591-M1GF1VE0IJB2L1Z1VAPE/Robert%2BLipsett.jpeg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec0c5cc51d51a5b53e71d3d/9d89a9bb-5f9c-487f-90fc-ddc4d37e3e4d/Danielle-Belen-2022-scaled-1.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec0c5cc51d51a5b53e71d3d/88fcbfb7-9aca-4d52-8e5d-586b20fd46e1/images.webp Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec0c5cc51d51a5b53e71d3d/1648239699285-FF7QRHF1XAB3KPA6B8P7/eugene-2000px.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec0c5cc51d51a5b53e71d3d/1646269985540-VI4KP5L0WRZU94WR4T8H/Simon%2BJames.jpeg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec0c5cc51d51a5b53e71d3d/1a5b035f-c9d7-4f6c-a532-a14ff84d258c/54181353157_fd4d7eb0dd_c.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec0c5cc51d51a5b53e71d3d/c7796d8f-8b64-4c1a-a521-b6746d226fd5/p_Debbie-Devine-07888m2600o.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec0c5cc51d51a5b53e71d3d/4b2891b1-8e3b-40a1-be1b-b3b81b2680b0/Endre-Granat-resized.jpg Home https://www.soundingpointacademy.com/fabiola-kim daily 0.75 2026-08-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec0c5cc51d51a5b53e71d3d/1589766278614-BA5VVE4YVISQK6SZ6QOS/Fabiola+Ki.jpg Fabiola Kim - Fabiola Kim Visit Fabiola’s Website Hailed by the New York Times as “a brilliant soloist,” who “played with extraordinary precision and luminosity,” violinist Fabiola Kim enjoys a dynamic and versatile career as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, and pedagogue. Her future engagements this year include solo concerts with Venice Symphony, Istanbul State Orchestra, Incheon Philarmonic Orchestra, Spartanburg Philharmonic and an appearance at the Maui Chamber Music Festival and Herrenchiemsee Festspiele. Her recent album, “1939,” with the Munich Symphony and Kevin John Edusei, has received international acclaim from BBC magazine, The Strad Magazine, Gramophone, American Record Guide and many others. Ms. Kim made her concerto debut with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of seven, just three years after beginning to play the violin. Ms. Kim is the winner of various awards and competitions, including being the youngest in history to win the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra’s Concerto Competition. Other competition wins include the Aspen Music Festival Violin Concerto Competition, The Juilliard Concerto Competition, Livingston Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Concerto Competition, the Kumho Prodigy Music Award, an award given to the most promising young musicians in Korea, and also was a prize winner at Corpus Christi International Competition and the Irving M. Klein International Competition for Strings. She has collaborated with conductors such as Alan Gilbert, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Gilbert Varga, Jane Glover, and Nicholas McGegan. Her past solo performances include engagements with the Seoul Philharmonic, Suwon Philharmonic, Korean Chamber Orchestra, Kangnam Symphony, Korean Symphony, Orquestra Sinfonica OSUANL, Budapest Symphony Orchestra MAV, North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Hofer Sinfoniker, Berlin Symphoniker, Westdeutche Sinfionia, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Colburn Orchestra, Juilliard Orchestra, Aspen Philharmonia and American Academy of Conducting at Aspen. An avid Chamber Musician, Ms. Kim has collaborated with many renowned artists such as Lynn Harrell, Cho-Liang Lin, Paul Neubauer, Frans Helmerson, Marc Coppey, and Ida Kavafian, and she has performed at summer festivals including The Aspen Music Festival, Ravinia Steans Institute, Verbier Festival and La Jolla Music Society Summerfest. Ms. Kim is an Assistant Professor of violin at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance and continues to serve as faculty at the Colburn School. Additionally, she is a Co-founder and Co-Artistic Director of Sounding Point Academy alongside Robert Lipsett. Other summer positions include violin faculty at Center Stage for Strings and Innsbrook Institute. Previously, she was a teaching assistant to Robert Lipsett at the Colburn School. Ms. Kim received her Artist Diploma at the Colburn School under the guidance of Robert Lipsett, and she received her Bachelor and Master of Music at the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Sylvia Rosenberg and Ronald Copes. https://www.soundingpointacademy.com/contact daily 0.75 2026-01-21 https://www.soundingpointacademy.com/endre-granat daily 0.75 2026-08-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec0c5cc51d51a5b53e71d3d/1646259203009-X6GBQEGF3YNPDK6L2NQU/Endre-Granat-resized.jpg Endre Granat - Endre Granat Endre Granat was a student and protégé of Jascha Heifetz. As premier concertmaster for the Hollywood film industry, he has been chosen by the greatest Hollywood film composers ranging from Miklos Rozsa to John Williams and from Henry Mancini to James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer as their orchestra leader. He has been concertmaster at the Emmy’s, Grammy’s, Academy Awards, countless television shows and records. His solo and symphonic activities on four continents include performances with conductors such as George Szell, Sir Georg Solti, and Zubin Mehta. He premiered the Sequenza #8 by Luciano Berio and gave the first performance of the Schoenberg Violin Concerto in Los Angeles. He is a Laureate of the Queen Elizabeth International Competition and recipient of the Grand Prix du Disque and the Ysaye Medal. Mr. Granat served as Assistant Concertmaster in the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell and Concertmaster for the Goteborg Symphony under Sir Charles Mackerras. He was a Fulbright Scholar and acted as professor of violin at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Goteborg, Sweden, Cleveland Institute of Music, University of Illinois, the California State University, Northridge, Seoul National University and the University of Southern California. He is an editor for the Lauren Keiser Music Publishing Company. https://www.soundingpointacademy.com/eugene-watanabe daily 0.75 2026-08-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec0c5cc51d51a5b53e71d3d/1648239339462-47UXN646N10S4OV9B6S7/eugene-2000px.jpg Eugene Watanabe - Eugene Watanabe Eugene Watanabe and his wife Dr. Vera Oussetskaia-Watanabe founded the Gifted Music School, now named the Peterson School of Music, in Salt Lake City in 2009. As Artistic Director and Violin Chair, he leads a synergistic team of faculty, administrators, 450 students and parents, and donors. The goal of the school has been to provide access to the highest standard of comprehensive music education regardless of financial background. As an educator, Eugene’s students can be found on the concert stage, professional orchestras, and currently populating many of the most important academic and music institutions including the Colburn School, Juilliard School, Juilliard/Columbia, University of Michigan, New England Conservatory, San Francisco Conservatory, Cleveland Institute of Music, Yale University, Stanford University, and all Utah Universities. His students have been frequently recognized with top awards at international and national solo and chamber competitions including Klein, ASTA, St. Paul, Cliburn, and a rare double win at the 2019 MTNA Nationals in Spokane having taught the 1st place awardees in both the Junior High and High School categories. Watanabe’s students have frequently been heard on NPR’s From the Top—as soloists, chamber groups, and members of the Gifted Music School orchestra. Watanabe was the first student in the history of the Curtis Institute of Music to graduate with a double degree in Violin and Piano. His teachers were Leon Fleisher, Claude Frank, Arnold Steinhardt, Joseph Silverstein, and Andres Cardenes. Watanabe was also deeply influenced by his continued work with Isaac Stern and Josef Gingold. As a performer, Watanabe enjoyed an international performance career as violinist and pianist. He has made appearances with the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, Hamburg Symphony, Saint Lawrence String Quartet, New Zealand String Quartet, New York String Orchestra at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall, and countless performances with the Utah Symphony (more than 15 concertos), and done solo tours through Europe, Canada, and United States. He has received major awards at the Honens-Calgary International Piano Competition, Kosciuzko Chopin Competition, Bachauer Young Artist Competition, MTNA National Competition, and the Kingsville Competition. In 2017, Eugene and Vera were awarded the Utah Governor Mansion Artist Award for their dedication to community service. When not teaching and helping to run the school, he treasures spending time with Vera and his son and daughter. Watanabe is a Steinway Artist. https://www.soundingpointacademy.com/ray-ushikubo daily 0.75 2026-08-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ec0c5cc51d51a5b53e71d3d/39200ba7-33f0-4ede-9a66-59f3bc175504/54181353157_fd4d7eb0dd_c.jpg Ray Ushikubo - Ray Ushikubo Ray Ushikubo, praised for his “disciplined focus and clarity… and marvelous dynamic nuance” (Arts Knoxville), is a Japanese-American pianist and violinist who has performed as soloist with major orchestras across the United States. Recent highlights include performing selections from Piazzolla’s Four Seasons with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and I Got Rhythm Variations with the orchestras of Kansas City, Oregon, and Rochester; and Sibelius’s Violin Concerto with the Colburn Orchestra under Esa-Pekka Salonen. A Davidson Fellow Laureate and Young Steinway Artist, Ushikubo won first prize at the 2017 Hilton Head International Piano Competition and the 2016 Aspen Piano Concerto Competition, and was a prizewinner at the 2023 Klein International String Competition. He made his orchestral debut at age ten with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1alongside Teddy Abrams and the Young Musicians Foundation Orchestra at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Since then, he has performed with orchestras including those of Aspen, Buffalo, Florida, Fort Collins, Hilton Head, Modesto, New West, Pasadena, Pensacola, Portland, Reno, San Diego, Westchester, and Winston-Salem—often appearing on both piano and violin in the same concert. He has worked with conductors such as Rodolfo Barráez, Paolo Bortolameolli, JoAnn Falletta, Norman Huynh, Laura Jackson, Jeffrey Kahane, Wes Kenney, David Lockington, Michelle Merrill, Sameer Patel, Rafael Payare, John Morris Russell, Dayner Tafur-Diaz, Jeff Tyzik, William Waldrop, and Thomas Wilkins. An avid chamber and collaborative musician, Ushikubo has performed with pianist Lang Lang at Segerstrom Concert Hall and on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He has appeared with Jean-Yves Thibaudet on Radio France, and at Musique & Vin au Clos Vougeot alongside cellist Gautier Capuçon. With the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, he has been featured as a violin soloist in Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins with Martin Chalifour, Philippe Quint, and Cho-Liang Lin, and as a pianist in Bach’s Concerto for Two Keyboards with Jeffrey Kahane. Ushikubo also explores music beyond the classical realm. He has performed with singer-songwriter Jackson Browne at a peace ceremony honoring Hiroshima victims, hosted by the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center in Los Angeles. At Grand Performances, he played a dual piano and violin solo program with jazz pianist Alfredo Rodriguez and electronic musician Daedalus, blending classical, jazz, and electronic genres. He also recorded an improvisation session with Kevin Olusola of Pentatonix for NPR’s From the Top. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Ushikubo double-majored and received his bachelor’s degrees at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied piano with Gary Graffman and Robert McDonald, and violin with Shmuel Ashkenasi, Pamela Frank, and Aaron Rosand. Currently, Ushikubo double-majors at the Colburn Conservatory of Music, where he studies piano with Fabio Bidini and violin with Robert Lipsett. Ushikubo’s hobbies include golfing and watching movies. Ushikubo performs on the 1741 “Playfair” Guarneri del Gesù, generously on loan from Colin Maki Inc. https://www.soundingpointacademy.com/our-faculty daily 0.75 2026-08-09 https://www.soundingpointacademy.com/2026-guestartists daily 0.75 2026-08-09