Dini Westman was a member of the University of Toronto Opera Orchestra and University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Leaning towards her passion for children’s music education, she mentored under Dorothy Jones and obtained here ECE Suzuki training in 1996.  Dini continued her violin and ECE studies at the San Francisco Conservatory.

She began teaching Suzuki in Toronto in 1993 with TCI (Toronto Children’s Institute for Music and the Arts). In 1995 she taught with the Toronto Board of Education, six schools including violin, viola, cello and bass. In 2002-2004 she taught violin in London Ontario at CTEC (Children’s Talent Education Centre).

She currently is director of her own violin academy in Stratford, Ontario in its 15th year.  The renowned school, Stratford Strings Academy, provides violin training for all levels of Suzuki and beyond. Royal Conservatory exams are highlighted in the curriculum past grade 4 level.  The Stratford Strings Academy provides its violinists with weekly group classes, many performance opportunities, master classes, and summer camps, Disney performing excursions and exchanges with other violin schools throughout the world.

She is founder and director of the scholarship based, charitable, youth ensemble the ‘Kathleen Parlow Quartet,’ which provides young string players from South Western Ontario the opportunity to train and embrace chamber music.

For any information on string education please contact Dini Westman at:

• website: www.stratfordstrings.com
• personal email: thewestmans@yahoo.ca
• cell phone: (519) 274-9522

I love sharing my passion for making and enjoying music. I believe that learning the violin requires discipline and focus, balanced with an environment that is encouraging and fun. My priority is to make this musical experience positive and productive for students and families.

The Suzuki Method of string pedagogy is the main structure of my program. This method focuses on forming excellent technique and beautiful tone (sound) from the very beginning of study, skills that are transferable to all musical styles. Classical, fiddle, folk, hymns, Christmas music, are all types of music that I teach within my program.

My program runs from September to May and consists of one private lesson per week, and one mandatory group class twice a month. There are a number of performance opportunities in the season eg. solo recitals, group recitals, Kiwanis.

Although the majority of my students tend to be children, I do have a number of adult students and welcome and enjoy teaching learners of any age!

I have been learning and playing music since I was 6. I started studying the violin when I was 17. I received a Bachelor of Musical Arts with Distinction followed by a Bachelor of Education from the University of Western Ontario. Teaching and playing the violin is what I love to do. I play with the Stratford Symphony Orchestra, Stratford Youth Orchestra, Stringtet, as well as various functions. My new passion is fiddle music, which I am pursuing with glee through authentic fiddle teachers and local traditions.

Contact Information

• email: ryanandserenaerb@gmail.com
• website: www.violinwithserena.ca