About
A Little About Our Orchestras
In orchestra we enhance, enrich, and build a solid instrumental music foundation of performance skills as well as music theory skills. The course is performance-based which affords students the opportunity to showcase their talents in class as well as out of class in small and large group performances. The curriculum is comprehensive for all orchestra instruments and facilitates growth at all levels of skill and talents. Overall, the goal is to foster a nurturing and positive environment for the students to excel, as well as to apply heir talents and skills to their every-day lives and future lives.
Students coming into orchestra at the 6th grade level may have come from varying backgrounds of musical experience, whether they have taken piano lessons, voice lessons, have sung in choirs, or have no musical experience at all. However, students have been exposed to some form of music at one point in their lives, and the end-goal is to grasp their experiences and apply them into their learning of the stringed instruments. 7th and 8th grade students take the fundamentals they have learned and build upon it, thinking more critically and applying their knowledge to other subject-areas.
A Little Bit About Ms. Tang
Samantha Tang began studying the viola at a young age; first under Samantha Lester, and shortly afterwards, with Dr. Allyson Fleck, a student of Sally Chisholm and Manuel Diaz. Ms. Tang continued to study viola with Dr. Fleck and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Assistant Principal violist Catherine Lynn at Kennesaw State University. She completed a Bachelor of Music degree, with a concentration in Viola Performance in 2016, and pursued a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education, in which she graduated in the Spring of 2019. Ms. Tang has also received extensive private piano instruction for nine years under Mrs. Jody Smith Parrish.
During her studies at Kennesaw State University, she has performed in chamber ensemble and viola master classes for Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) violists Lachlan McBane, Paul Murphy, violinist Justin Bruns, and Manuel Diaz (Columbus State University). In 2014, Samantha had been selected to participate in the Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) All-College Orchestra in Savannah, Georgia. In the same year, Ms. Tang attended the Franklin Pond Chamber Music College Festival in Atlanta, Georgia, where she spent a five-week intensive learning and performing master classes amongst Atlanta Symphony Orchestra musicians. While at Kennesaw State University, Ms. Tang completed her year-long student teaching practicum under the supervision of Dr. Dwayne Wasson of Wheeler High School in Cobb County, Georgia, where she worked extensively with three orchestras of varying levels, as well as assisted in teaching an AP Music Theory course and leading morning chamber music ensembles.
As an active member and past KSU Chapter Vice President of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA), Tang attended the 2014, 2018, and 2019 National ASTA Conferences in Louisville, Kentucky; Atlanta, Georgia; and Albuquerque, New Mexico, respectively. She is also currently a member of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and attended the 2019 Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) In-Service Conference in Athens, Georgia. In the future, Ms. Tang aspires to grow her career as an orchestra director.
In orchestra we enhance, enrich, and build a solid instrumental music foundation of performance skills as well as music theory skills. The course is performance-based which affords students the opportunity to showcase their talents in class as well as out of class in small and large group performances. The curriculum is comprehensive for all orchestra instruments and facilitates growth at all levels of skill and talents. Overall, the goal is to foster a nurturing and positive environment for the students to excel, as well as to apply heir talents and skills to their every-day lives and future lives.
Students coming into orchestra at the 6th grade level may have come from varying backgrounds of musical experience, whether they have taken piano lessons, voice lessons, have sung in choirs, or have no musical experience at all. However, students have been exposed to some form of music at one point in their lives, and the end-goal is to grasp their experiences and apply them into their learning of the stringed instruments. 7th and 8th grade students take the fundamentals they have learned and build upon it, thinking more critically and applying their knowledge to other subject-areas.
A Little Bit About Ms. Tang
Samantha Tang began studying the viola at a young age; first under Samantha Lester, and shortly afterwards, with Dr. Allyson Fleck, a student of Sally Chisholm and Manuel Diaz. Ms. Tang continued to study viola with Dr. Fleck and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Assistant Principal violist Catherine Lynn at Kennesaw State University. She completed a Bachelor of Music degree, with a concentration in Viola Performance in 2016, and pursued a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education, in which she graduated in the Spring of 2019. Ms. Tang has also received extensive private piano instruction for nine years under Mrs. Jody Smith Parrish.
During her studies at Kennesaw State University, she has performed in chamber ensemble and viola master classes for Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) violists Lachlan McBane, Paul Murphy, violinist Justin Bruns, and Manuel Diaz (Columbus State University). In 2014, Samantha had been selected to participate in the Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) All-College Orchestra in Savannah, Georgia. In the same year, Ms. Tang attended the Franklin Pond Chamber Music College Festival in Atlanta, Georgia, where she spent a five-week intensive learning and performing master classes amongst Atlanta Symphony Orchestra musicians. While at Kennesaw State University, Ms. Tang completed her year-long student teaching practicum under the supervision of Dr. Dwayne Wasson of Wheeler High School in Cobb County, Georgia, where she worked extensively with three orchestras of varying levels, as well as assisted in teaching an AP Music Theory course and leading morning chamber music ensembles.
As an active member and past KSU Chapter Vice President of the American String Teachers Association (ASTA), Tang attended the 2014, 2018, and 2019 National ASTA Conferences in Louisville, Kentucky; Atlanta, Georgia; and Albuquerque, New Mexico, respectively. She is also currently a member of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and attended the 2019 Georgia Music Educators Association (GMEA) In-Service Conference in Athens, Georgia. In the future, Ms. Tang aspires to grow her career as an orchestra director.