The String Project is dedicated to the partnership of teaching and learning in music. This outreach program is designed to inspire and foster creativity among young musicians and cultivate a learning environment to enable the development of future string teachers. While future teachers gain experience, elementary and middle school students in the Tucson community are able to study music at a low or no cost. This community concert celebrates the work of University students and the K-12 students they teach.
Biographies:
Dr. Kelsey Nussbaum joined the faculty of University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music as an Assistant Professor of Music Education in Fall 2022. At UA, she teaches undergraduate and graduate coursework in music education, mentors graduate students, and is the Master Teacher for the UA String Project. She is a string bassist and Texas-native. Prior to joining the UA faculty, she taught at the University of Washington and spent five years teaching secondary string orchestra in Austin, Texas.
Dr. Nussbaum pursues an active research agenda that explores institutional, structural, and societal barriers which may be impacting access, equity, and inclusion within all levels of music education. One ongoing line of inquiry examines how high-stakes competition creates barriers for music teachers and students. Her research has been presented at national and international conferences and published in prominent music education journals. Nussbaum remains an active clinician, annually presenting regularly at the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) national convention and state conferences. Dr. Nussbaum is dedicated to professional service, serving on the Nation String Project Consortium Board and as Chair of the ASTA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.
Theodore Buchholz is the cello professor at the University of Arizona. Described by newspaper critics as a “virtuosic cellist” with a “warm beautiful sound,” he has performed in prominent venues from New York’s Lincoln Center to international halls in Italy and Tokyo. Buchholz’s album Afterglow features Henry Hadley’s complete works for cello and piano and received a coveted five-star rating from Fanfare Magazine. His recording of the Hans Winterberg Cello Sonata was released under the Toccata label in 2018, and he is a member of True Concord whose CD recording won a 2016 Grammy Award. As a nationally recognized researcher, Dr. Buchholz served as the Cello Forum Editor for American String Teacher. A fervent believer in the power of music education to transform lives, he is the Director of the University of Arizona String Project. During the summers he performs and teaches at the Killington Music Festival in Vermont and the Zephyr Music Festival in Courmayeur, Italy. Theodore Buchholz is the recipient of the Taubeneck Superior Teaching Award and he received the Charles and Irene Putnam Award, the College’s most prestigious recognition of excellence in teaching. Dr. Buchholz studied with Bonnie Hampton, Sadao Harada, and Nathaniel Rosen.