The Music Institute of Chicago presents Virtuoso Strings a chamber ensemble consisting of 20 young string performers from the Chicagoland Area. The group began in response to the Covid Pandemic of 2020. These violin, viola, cello, and piano students began their studies as young as three years old many having used the Suzuki Method. Virtuoso Strings concert program consists mainly of classical music. This includes the music of Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and more. The program also integrates different styles of music such as Fiddle, Irish, Ragtime, Broadway, and Sacred. The students are prepared to present a formal program for educational purposes, weddings, and special events.
Virtuoso Strings musicians have opened for professional musicians and artists at Symphony Center (Chicago, IL) and Paramount Theater (Aurora, IL). This past spring, they were invited to perform the opening ceremony for the ASTA (American String Teachers Association) as well as the SAA (Suzuki Association of the Americas) joint conferences held in Louisville, Kentucky for 3,500 teachers. In 2022 and 2023, they enjoyed their first performance tours to Hawaii and Italy. The current musicians have toured nationally to Washington and internationally to Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Morocco, Scotland, and Spain. As a part of the program at the Music Institute of Chicago, Virtuoso Strings adheres to the philosophy of Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, the founder of the Suzuki Method. Dr. Suzuki, a survivor of World War II who returned to his war-torn country, believed that all children are born with a natural ability to learn. Through the medium of music, he demonstrated that each child could develop talent if educated and raised in a nurturing environment..
Virtuoso Strings musicians have opened for professional musicians and artists at Symphony Center (Chicago, IL) and Paramount Theater (Aurora, IL). This past spring, they were invited to perform the opening ceremony for the ASTA (American String Teachers Association) as well as the SAA (Suzuki Association of the Americas) joint conferences held in Louisville, Kentucky for 3,500 teachers. In 2022 and 2023, they enjoyed their first performance tours to Hawaii and Italy. The current musicians have toured nationally to Washington and internationally to Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Morocco, Scotland, and Spain. As a part of the program at the Music Institute of Chicago, Virtuoso Strings adheres to the philosophy of Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, the founder of the Suzuki Method. Dr. Suzuki, a survivor of World War II who returned to his war-torn country, believed that all children are born with a natural ability to learn. Through the medium of music, he demonstrated that each child could develop talent if educated and raised in a nurturing environment..
Julie Bickel, Biography
Julie Bickel joined the faculty of the Music Institute of Chicago in 2021. She pioneered Virtuoso Strings, their new advanced touring ensemble. They have since embarked on their first tours to England, Hawaii, Italy, and Kentucky. This Spring, they were invited to perform for the opening of the ASTA & SAA Joint Conference for 3,500 teachers. For over 21 years, Bickel worked at Wheaton College Community School of the Arts as a violin instructor and Director of the Vivaldi Strings touring chamber ensemble. She taught for the Wheaton College Music Conservatory as faculty teaching String Pedagogy and mentoring Interns. She holds a B.A. in Violin Performance and a B.S. in Pre-Med from the University of Notre Dame, as well as a M.M. and Performers’ Certificate in Violin Performance and Pedagogy from Northern Illinois University. Bickel has been a participant in all twelve of the Starling-DeLay Symposiums at the Juilliard School of Music. Bickel studied with Betty Monahan, Almita and Roland Vamos, Rachel Barton Pine, Simin Ganatra, Mathias Tacke, Vermeer Quartet, and Brian Lewis. She has performed the Mendelssohn, Khachaturian, and Beethoven Concertos with orchestra and currently performs with the Butterfield String Quartet with colleagues, Anita Arch, Emily Puntuzs, and Dr. Tanya Carey. She has trained extensively since 1996 in Suzuki Pedagogy and has taught at various music institutes, including Sound Encounters in Ottawa, Kansas; Texas State University Suzuki Strings Institute in San Marcos, Texas; Intermountain Suzuki String Institute in Draper, Utah; DFW-WOW in Dallas, Texas; American Suzuki Institute in Stevens Point, Wisconsin; the Chicago Suzuki Institute in Deerfield, Illinois, and the Space City Suzuki Insitute in Houston, Texas. As the director of the Wheaton College Community School of the Arts’ Vivaldi Strings touring group, she prepared the group for national tours to Alaska, California, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Washington, and Wisconsin; and international tours to Austria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Japan, Morocco, Puerto Rico, Scotland, and Spain. The group has been featured on both ABC and NBC Chicago affiliates as well as Beijing TV and the NHK Japanese-English website. In 2012, the group was invited, all expenses paid, by the Chinese government to represent the USA along with 42 other countries in the International Children’s Culture and Art Festival.
Prior to Covid, they had planned to travel to Washington D.C. to participate in the 6th World Children’s Festival hosted by the International Child Art Foundation. Bickel coordinated the Suzuki Youth Orchestras of the Americas for the 11th and 12th SAA Conferences. At the 13th and 16th SAA Conferences in 2008 and 2014, Vivaldi Strings was selected to perform for the International Ensembles Concerts. In 2014, Bickel was awarded Teacher of the Year from the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra. Bickel embraces the teaching philosophies of Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, positing that every child is born with an innate ability to learn when provided a nurturing environment and exposure to high quality models. Bickel’s students focus on technique as a means of reaching their musical potential, but also grow in character development enabling them to become strong contributing members of society.
Julie Bickel joined the faculty of the Music Institute of Chicago in 2021. She pioneered Virtuoso Strings, their new advanced touring ensemble. They have since embarked on their first tours to England, Hawaii, Italy, and Kentucky. This Spring, they were invited to perform for the opening of the ASTA & SAA Joint Conference for 3,500 teachers. For over 21 years, Bickel worked at Wheaton College Community School of the Arts as a violin instructor and Director of the Vivaldi Strings touring chamber ensemble. She taught for the Wheaton College Music Conservatory as faculty teaching String Pedagogy and mentoring Interns. She holds a B.A. in Violin Performance and a B.S. in Pre-Med from the University of Notre Dame, as well as a M.M. and Performers’ Certificate in Violin Performance and Pedagogy from Northern Illinois University. Bickel has been a participant in all twelve of the Starling-DeLay Symposiums at the Juilliard School of Music. Bickel studied with Betty Monahan, Almita and Roland Vamos, Rachel Barton Pine, Simin Ganatra, Mathias Tacke, Vermeer Quartet, and Brian Lewis. She has performed the Mendelssohn, Khachaturian, and Beethoven Concertos with orchestra and currently performs with the Butterfield String Quartet with colleagues, Anita Arch, Emily Puntuzs, and Dr. Tanya Carey. She has trained extensively since 1996 in Suzuki Pedagogy and has taught at various music institutes, including Sound Encounters in Ottawa, Kansas; Texas State University Suzuki Strings Institute in San Marcos, Texas; Intermountain Suzuki String Institute in Draper, Utah; DFW-WOW in Dallas, Texas; American Suzuki Institute in Stevens Point, Wisconsin; the Chicago Suzuki Institute in Deerfield, Illinois, and the Space City Suzuki Insitute in Houston, Texas. As the director of the Wheaton College Community School of the Arts’ Vivaldi Strings touring group, she prepared the group for national tours to Alaska, California, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Washington, and Wisconsin; and international tours to Austria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Japan, Morocco, Puerto Rico, Scotland, and Spain. The group has been featured on both ABC and NBC Chicago affiliates as well as Beijing TV and the NHK Japanese-English website. In 2012, the group was invited, all expenses paid, by the Chinese government to represent the USA along with 42 other countries in the International Children’s Culture and Art Festival.
Prior to Covid, they had planned to travel to Washington D.C. to participate in the 6th World Children’s Festival hosted by the International Child Art Foundation. Bickel coordinated the Suzuki Youth Orchestras of the Americas for the 11th and 12th SAA Conferences. At the 13th and 16th SAA Conferences in 2008 and 2014, Vivaldi Strings was selected to perform for the International Ensembles Concerts. In 2014, Bickel was awarded Teacher of the Year from the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra. Bickel embraces the teaching philosophies of Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, positing that every child is born with an innate ability to learn when provided a nurturing environment and exposure to high quality models. Bickel’s students focus on technique as a means of reaching their musical potential, but also grow in character development enabling them to become strong contributing members of society.