Sera Smolen, soloist, collaborator, chamber musician, improviser, orchestral musician and recording artist, is an active performer of numerous genres of music, including four centuries of classical music. She has studied improvisation extensively with many teachers, and has performed in the US, Canada, Europe and India in numerous collaborations as an improvising musician. In addition to premieriing new music, interdisciplinarity is a passion, bringing her to collaborate with dancers, sculptors, painters and poets. She composes and records original music with her husband, Tom Mank with whom she will tour the Netherlands and Belgium - and a fourth time in April 2009.

www.myspace.com/tomandsera

Smolen received her PhD in music education from the Union Institute in 2000. She currently teaches at the Kanack School in Rochester NY, in her suzuki cello studio in Ithaca, NY, and as a guest clinician around the US and Canada. She has tought at Mansfield University, Alfred University, and Hobart and William Smith College. She is the assistant director of the New Directions Cello Festival and is a founding member of the Binghamton Cello Festival.

She leads seminars for teachers covering pedagogies of improvisation and composition fro developing string players..

2007-2008 Performance/Teaching Schedule

EDUCATION AND TRAINING:

Union Institute of Graduate Studies: Ph.D. in Music Education and Applied Cello 1993-2000

Cornell University: Graduate work in Education, 1987-88, partial masters degree

Ithaca College School of Music: Graduate work, Permanent Certification for teaching Suzuki Method, all levels 1984-1986,
partial masters degree

Ithaca College: B.M., Public School Certification, Performance Certificate,
1972-1977

Magic Mountain Music Farm: Practice Marathon Retreats with Burton Kaplan, winters 1995,6,7, Summers 1993-4

Summer Suzuki Institutes, and winter workshops in the U.S. and Canada: 1985-present

Music for People with David Darling, 1981- 1983, Musianship and Leadership program,1994-9

Aspen Summer Music Festival, 1978-1979

Meadowmount School of music, 1976-1977

Ithaca Violoncello Institute, 1974-1975

TEACHERS:

Cello performance:
Einar Holm
Alan Harris
Colin Hampton
Robert Newkirk
Rolfe Gjeltsen
Burton Kaplan
Laszlo Varga
Elizabeth Simkin
Linda Case

Improvisation:
David Darling
Steve Brown
Hank Roberts
Karlton Hester
Betsy Bevan
Daniel Birch (Indian music)
Joep Bor (Indian music)

Questions or comments about this site? Contact Sera: serasmolen@earthlink.net

Site last modified September 15, 2007rSite design by Nomad DigitalrrArt credit:Diana Souza