Ming-hang Tam

Traditional and Suzuki Violin

Teaching Artist Statement
I believe in developing students’ full potential step by step, as a mentor, to inspire them to foresee a higher vision. To me, every student is an expert learner without limitations. Tailored to each student’s learning progress and needs, my lessons include practice tasks based on pedagogical principles from both the traditional approach and the Suzuki method. My top priorities in teaching include good posture and confidence to perform. I emphasize the importance of aural development by listening to recordings carefully to recognize fundamentals, such as tunes and rhythms, as well as more detailed aspects, such as articulations and tone quality. I also focus on performance practices and interpretations of each musical composition. Overall, I see every lesson as a lesson in life, equipping my students to face challenges with practicable strategies for understanding personal skills, such as patience, determination, consistency, focus, self-motivation, memory, logic, self-awareness with evaluation, reflection and self-correction, as well as interpersonal values of trust and respect. I hope to eventually be one of the educators who paves the way for a better world for the next generations.

Teaching Bio
Ming-hang Tam holds a Master of Music degree with Academic Honors in Violin Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music in the studio of Nicholas Kitchen, and a Bachelor of Music degree in Applied Music – Violin from the Eastman School of Music with Renée Jolles. Named on the Dean’s List for his academic excellence at both prestigious music schools, Mr. Tam has taught his peers in practice sessions and studio classes, honing their skills in listening and giving constructive criticism, with assistance in technique and musicality. As a registered Suzuki violin teacher with the Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA), Mr. Tam has studied the Suzuki violin pedagogy with some distinguished Suzuki teacher trainers, including Allen Lieb (CEO of International Suzuki Association), Thomas Wermuth, Rolando Freitag (SAA Board Chair-Elect), Patricia D’Ercole and Joanne Melvin (past SAA Board Chairs), Judy W. Bossuat-Gallic, Christie Felsing, and James Hutchins. He started teaching in the neighborhoods of Boston in 2018 after he assumed the position of Artist-in-Residence at the Suzuki Institute of Boston. Other than teaching individual lessons and group classes in his private studio, he has also led school outreach programs in K-12 schools. In 2019, he joined South Shore Conservatory’s string department as a traditional and Suzuki violin teaching artist, and continues to motivate and prepare students for recitals, performances, and public appearances.

Performance Bio
Ming-hang Tam, violinist, shares his vision of enriching people’s lives through the musical arts. He has concertized for solo, chamber music and large ensembles from early music to contemporary. He has performed in Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Eureka Ensemble, New England Conservatory Philharmonia, Eastman Philharmonia, and Empire Film Music Ensemble. He has also appeared in Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center, Boston Symphony Hall, and Kodak Hall at the Eastman Theatre, he premiered Aaron Jay Kernis’ Symphony No. 4 “Chromelodeon,” and Kevin Puts’ “Letters from Georgia” with Renée Fleming. As a graduate of New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) (M.M. with Academic Honors) and Eastman School of Music (B.M.), Mr. Tam studied violin performance with Nicholas Kitchen and Renée Jolles. He was the recipient of Dean’s Scholarship at NEC, Howard Hanson Scholarship at Eastman, and other merit scholarships at Heifetz International Music Institute, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and Catskill High Peaks Festival. Mr. Tam has served as Artist-in-Residence at the Suzuki Institute of Boston since 2018. He joined South Shore Conservatory in 2019.

For more information, please visit Mr. Tam’s profile page at the Suzuki Association of the Americas, or check out his interview published by the Portland Press Herald in June 2017. To watch Mr. Tam’s performance videos, please visit his YouTube channel.