About
About South West Music School
South West Music School is a non-profit community music school located in Beaverton, Oregon. We are dedicated to providing a high-quality violin and stringed instruments education with ensemble performance opportunities for all. We foster a non-competitive environment where extraordinary teachers help students focus on mastering music.
South West Music School Teachers
Chris Gaye
Chris Gaye has been playing the violin since he was 3. He attended the Pacific Northwest Suzuki Institutes where he had his first official training in teaching the Suzuki Method. At the age of 13 he found his musical calling, the bass. He studied both the upright bass with Phil Baker and Curtis Daily, and electric bass guitar with Jeff Cumpston and Phil Baker. Mr. Gaye received professional training in music production and sound for picture at Trebas Institute in Vancouver B.C., and attended Vancouver Film School where he received even more advanced training in audio engineering and sound for picture production techniques. Chris is active in the in the local music community and has been in several bands that have gigged extensively around the Portland area and appeared on stages from Corvallis to Vancouver B.C.
Suzanne Gaye
Suzanne Gaye has been encouraging her students since the inception of South West Music School in 1995. Suzanne has a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from Denison University and a Masters in Music Education from Southern Illinois University. She trained under John Kendall, the premier Suzuki teacher and trainer in the United States while at SIU. Suzanne has taught for over thirty years in Oregon, teaching violin and orchestra in the public schools including Conestoga Middle, Aloha High and various elementary schools. She also maintains a private violin studio. Suzanne’s teaching experience includes twenty-five years of summer institutes as well as adjudicating music competitions. In her spare time, Suzanne loves to swim, play Scottish fiddle, and travel with her husband.
Neil Hollister
Neil Hollister holds a B.A. in Music from the University of Portland and an M.M. from University of Washington, Seattle. He has strong orchestral experience throughout the Northwest area, playing in the Oregon Coast Music Festival, Allegro Baroque, Linfield Chamber Orchestra, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, and many others. Mr. Hollister also has extensive training in music theory and pedagogy.
Carol Matthew
Carol Matthew has been playing the Violin for 31 years, and also plays flute and clarinet. She received degrees from Portland State University and University of Oregon, studied with members of the Oregon Symphony, and has taught for the Beaverton School District since 1980.
Karen Williams
Karen Williams has been playing violin professionally since she was in high school in the 1970s, including orchestras in Texas and Oregon. She holds degrees from Texas Tech University, where she studied with Dr. James Barber, and George Fox University. She has taught string orchestra for twelve years, private violin and viola for over thirty years, and elementary classroom for 17 years. She received Suzuki Method training in Forest Grove, Oregon.
Karim Yengsep
Karim Yengsep holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music (2005) degree from Western Oregon University and Master of Music in Double Bass Performance and String Literature (2009) degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Music. Karim has been awarded a full tuition-waiver scholarship annually during his graduate studies at the University of Illinois, and is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate in Jazz Performance with Ethnomusicology cognate. His primary teachers of music are double bassists Larry Gray, Michael Cameron, Dan Schulte and pianist Dr. Diane Baxter.
