Lesson Info

D Z Strad believes in developing creativity through music education. We offer a nurturing learning environment suitable for students of all ages to comfortably explore their musical goals and make lasting progress! 1-on-1 lessons with our teachers are available in violin, viola, cello, and piano. Lessons are held at our shop in White Plains, where our luthiers are available to service your instrument on-site as you learn. We also offer online lessons via Zoom. Lessons with our instructors will incorporate different styles and methods of teaching dependent on the needs of the students. The teachers at D Z Strad have experience in teaching everyone from children to adults, and are ready to make your musical dreams a reality!

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MEET OUR INSTRUCTORS

VIOLIN - Heather Bixler

Heather Martin Bixler is a classical violinist and educator whose playing has been described as “emotionally riveting” and “astonishingly musical and sweet.” She is a graduate of Indiana University, The Juilliard School, and the University of Memphis where she received a doctorate degree in violin performance. As a recording artist, Bixler was a featured soloist on the GRAMMY nominated recording, Forty Acres and a Burro. Bixler held first violin positions in the Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona and Orquesta Sinfonica de Galícia, and concertmaster positions with South Dakota Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica de la Minería, and Garden State
Philharmonic. She worked as substitute violinist with orchestras including The New York Philharmonic and The New York City Ballet. Pursuing her interest in studying the effect that music has on the brain, Bixler completed Bachelor of Arts degree in neuroscience at Columbia University in 2021 where she was awarded the Dean Peter J. Awn Scholarship, the Joey O'Loughlin Academic Scholarship, and upon graduation, the Jennifer A. Pack Prize for excellence in the study of neuroscience and behavior as the best student overall in the School of General Studies. After graduation she worked as a research assistant in a neuroscience lab at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, recently completing a two-year, ground-breaking study on neurodegenerative diseases. Currently, she lives in New York, performing and teaching violin.

CELLO - David Barnhart

David has been teaching cello in the Hudson Valley since 1993. During his High School years, he met and studied with his most influential teacher, cellist William Harry. Harry taught him with a caring and steady hand the ways of learning the cello with a system that was to the point and economical. That “quality over quantity” is the one essential tool for learning the instrument successfully which David still practices with his students to this day. He received his Bachelor’s in Music (Performance) from Franklin Pierce University and his Master’s of Music (Performance) from Kent State University.

David studied with Franklin Pierce University’s Carol Gebhardt. He gained further orchestral playing experience performing with the Monadnock Orchestra and Chorus under the direction of David Brandes. Kent State University offered an intensive continuation of David’s college performance studies, as well as participation in masterclasses offered by his then cello professor, Moshe Amitay. After completion of his masters studies, David returned to his native Hudson Valley to establish the beginnings of his private studio.

Each Spring, David diligently prepares his students for successful NYSSMA auditions, yielding exceptional marks and happy cellists. David continues to mold cello students, now at D Z Strad Music School, with the same caring and nurturing hand that his mentor Bill Harry instilled in him so many years ago.

CELLO - Camille Dietrich

Described as “…demonstrating a facility with a multitude of musical languages” by British avant-garde music magazine The Wire, cellist Camille Dietrich enjoys a rising career as soloist and chamber musician in New York City. As an alumni of contemporary music education program Face the Music and the Face the Music Quartet, she has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Baryshnikov Theater, and toured in Washington DC. She is an active chamber musician and founding member of the Madkoi Quartet, has performed at venues such as Lincoln Center and (RED) Charity Foundation, and was an artist in residence at Bronx Prep. Camille received her Master of Music and Bachelors in Cello Performance from the Manhattan School of Music while studying with Julia Lichten David Geber, and world- renowned pedagogue Marion Feldman.

VIOLIN - Edward Rosen-Wallberg

To Edward Rosen-Wallberg, known warmly to students and families as Eddy, the violin is not solely a musical instrument. The study of violin offers children a wonderful pathway through life, making sense of its adventures, introducing and strengthening the most important skills of childhood.

Eddy began playing the violin at 3 years old in New York, and went on to study Violin Performance at the University of Delaware with Xiang Gao and Kate Ransom. A Suzuki trained violin teacher, Eddy believes that every child can find success, happiness, and excellence in music. With joyful encouragement of families, teachers, and fellow students in abundance, Eddy’s violin studio and class offerings are a perfect fit for all families with school-age students.

Eddy loves to go hiking and camping year round, always bringing his violin with him into nature. After teaching Suzuki Violin in Delaware and New Jersey, building brand new school and community music programs in Maryland, and adventuring to Colorado to blend his enthusiasm for music with his love for the outdoors, he is finally back in his home state of New York, where he hopes to share his excitement for music education and decades of experience in violin studies with families in the Hudson Valley, and beyond.