Phyllis Calderon
BACKGROUND
Mrs. Phyllis, whom her students affectionately call her, grew up listening to the piano compositions of Chopin, Rachmoninov and Beethoven, among others, played by her mother and grandmothers. Her first piano teacher was her mother Gloria Coleman. At the age of 10 she began violin instruction with the Suzuki method, and then studied privately with Prof. Marc Zinger. She continued piano studies throughout high school with Ann Monaco of MERIT Music Program while playing violin with the All-City, Chicago Youth Symphony & the Classical Symphony Orchestras. At North Park College and American Conservatory of Music, she studied violin with Joseph Glymph and Elisabeth Matesky, respectively. Her orchestral performances have included many other orchestras which also included the Classical Symphony and CIVIC Orchestras. In 2000, she pursued and received training in the Suzuki Method (violin) at the Chicago Music Institute with Michele Higa-George, and furthered that training at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, with Mimi Zweig and Rebecca Henry, in 2004. She is also registered with the Center for Young People in New Jersey to teach Music Together, a music and movement class for babies to age 5.THE TEACHER
Besides teaching violin and piano, Mrs. Phyllis teaches early childhood music classes to babies up to age 3. In addition, she currently coaches beginning string ensembles to students of Apostolic Church of God Youth String Orchestra and serves as the General Music Teacher for grades K to 8, at Master’s Academy. Before founding her own studio - A Touch of Classical Plus - she taught violin at Viva la Musica Clasica, DePaul's Community Music program, and Sherwood Conservatory of Music, and also provided early childhood music classes to a number of daycare schools.Through recitals, concerts and performances, it is her vision that every child be exposed to music education whether through live performances, a workshop or through private and group lessons.
THE PERFORMER
As a performer, Mrs. Phyllis has performed with Barry White, Nancy Wilson, and Jerry Butler, and contributed her talents to the recording projects of Kym Franklin (Let the Beauty Be) and Grammy-nominated Angel Melendez & the 911 Mambo Orchestra. She also appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and alongside tap dancer sensation Bril Barrett of M.A.D.D. Rhythms for their 5th production of M.A.D.D. Rhythms: Unplugged, in a tap dance and violin duet of classical and hip-hop music.Mrs. Phyllis is a freelance artist who performs occasionally with the High Society Orchestra and the Chicago Jazz Orchestra. She also is part of the music ministry at the Chicago Church of Christ, where she plays the violin with the worship band and choir, and occasionally assists with the children's choir. In addition, she manages her own group – the EADG Project - that is comprised mainly of strings, but can be customized to fit the needs of the customer, to include any instrument and/or voice.
MEMBERSHIP
Mrs. Phyllis is a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA), the Chicago Music Association (CMA), the Music Teachers of Hyde Park (MTHP), and the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA)