Lydia Miller Choorapuzha, Violin Teacher:
A native of Severna Park, Maryland, Lydia Miller Choorapuzha began playing violin at the early age of five. Her talent and enthusiasm for the instrument resulted in a scholarship to study at the preparatory division of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, where she learned from world-renowned musicians during her seven years there. Ms. Miller is, however, a scholar as well as a performer. She attended BostonUniversity on a merit scholarship where she graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Music degree in the history and literature of music. There she studied with Peter Zazofsky, first violinist of the Muir String Quartet. In the spring of 2002, Ms. Miller traveled abroad to Berlin, Germany, where she studied German language, history, and literature at the Freie Universitaet and violin at the Hochschule der Kunst, as a student of Rainer Kimstedt. In the spring of 2006 she completed her master's degree in violin performance at the State University of New York College at Purchase, where she was a scholarship recipient and the teaching assistant for Laurie Smukler, founding member of the Mendelssohn Quartet. Ms. Miller moved to the Twin Cities in the fall of 2006 to work more closely with her mentor Jorja Fleezanis, former Concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra.
Ms. Miller has played with such orchestras as the Minnesota Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Minnesota Opera Orchestra, the American Composers Orchestra, the Long Island Philharmonic, the Westchester Philharmonic, the Hawaii Symphony and the World Symphony Orchestra, and has shared the stage with such artists as singing legend Art Garfunkel, Barry Manilow, and Josh Groban. Her performance schedule has also taken her to concert halls in Canada, Iceland, Scotland, England, Germany, and South Korea.
Ms. Miller was appointed Concertmaster of the Mankato Symphony in 2007. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Music on the Hill, a chamber music series in Mankato, MN. She has taught violin at Minnesota State University Mankato, the University of St. Thomas, the University of Wisconsin - River Falls, and the MacPhail School of Music. Lydia has taught at numerous summer festivals and is currently on the faculty of the International Music Camp. Her students have won numerous accolades, from college scholarships to awards in competitions to acceptance into top youth orchestras and summer festivals.
Lydia and her husband recently relocated to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is teaching at the City Music Center of Duquesne University, PYCO School of Music, and at her home in Pine Township in the North Hills.
Ms. Miller has played with such orchestras as the Minnesota Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Minnesota Opera Orchestra, the American Composers Orchestra, the Long Island Philharmonic, the Westchester Philharmonic, the Hawaii Symphony and the World Symphony Orchestra, and has shared the stage with such artists as singing legend Art Garfunkel, Barry Manilow, and Josh Groban. Her performance schedule has also taken her to concert halls in Canada, Iceland, Scotland, England, Germany, and South Korea.
Ms. Miller was appointed Concertmaster of the Mankato Symphony in 2007. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Music on the Hill, a chamber music series in Mankato, MN. She has taught violin at Minnesota State University Mankato, the University of St. Thomas, the University of Wisconsin - River Falls, and the MacPhail School of Music. Lydia has taught at numerous summer festivals and is currently on the faculty of the International Music Camp. Her students have won numerous accolades, from college scholarships to awards in competitions to acceptance into top youth orchestras and summer festivals.
Lydia and her husband recently relocated to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She is teaching at the City Music Center of Duquesne University, PYCO School of Music, and at her home in Pine Township in the North Hills.