Preparatory Music Instructors

Education: D.M.A Juilliard School
Role: EMU Faculty
Instruments: piano  ** Studio Full**

David Berry is currently Assistant Professor of Music at Eastern Mennonite University where he teaches piano and music history. David’s performances have been featured in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, the UW World Series at the University of Washington, as well as live broadcasts of WQXR (New York City). An avid chamber musician, he has collaborated with members of many of the nation’s leading orchestras, including the New Jersey, Houston, St. Louis, Dallas, and Seattle symphonies. David has toured and concertized as a resident member of the Jacksonville, Florida based Ritz Chamber Players, The Harlem Chamber Players, and the innovative chamber music theater group, the Core Ensemble. He was also Grand Prize Winner of the Bradshaw and Buono International Piano Competition, as well as a prizewinner in the Thousand Islands International Piano Competition.

David received his Bachelor of Music with High Distinction from the Eastman School of Music, and Masters and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in piano performance from the Juilliard School. His piano teachers have included Martin Canin, Douglas Humpherys, and George Skafidas, with collaborative piano coachings under Russell Miller and chamber music studies under Seymour Lipkin, Jacob Lateiner, and Jonathan Feldman.

In addition to his accomplishments and background as a classical musician, David is an avid improviser of jazz, gospel, and popular contemporary piano styles, and also enjoys composing his own concert arrangements of hymns. David is an energetic and caring teacher who loves working with his students.

Role: EMU Faculty
Instrument: Piano

Jeremiah Padillais an instructor at JMU, Eastern Mennonite University, and EMU's Preparatory Music Program. As a soloist, he has performed piano concertos with the James Madison Symphony Orchestra, the University of Memphis Orchestra, the Memphis Repertory Orchestra (MRO), and the Awit Pilipinas Youth Orchestra. Jeremiah is an avid collaborative pianist who enjoys sharing the stage with professors and colleagues at EMU and JMU. He also collaborates with the Shenandoah Valley Children's Choir and teaches music theory. In 2019, he won the Outstanding Collaborative Lieder Pianist Award at AIMS in Graz, Austria. Since then, he has been invited back to AIMS as a repetitor. Jeremiah holds a DMA from JMU, an MM, and a BM from the University of Memphis. His teachers include Gabriel Dobner, Victor Asuncion, and Cathal Breslin.

The core of my teaching is the pursuit of excellence through shared discovery and connection. Together, my students and I find solutions to help them take their playing to the next level. My students learn a wide range of repertoire, including works by Gershwin, Bartok, Papp, Schubert, and Chopin. I guide them in establishing strong listening and learning skills that enable them to become expressive storytellers on the piano. By diagnosing the underlying issue, technical or interpretative, students develop confidence, openness, and comfort in expressing their voice through music.

I have taught students ages 4 to 74. With beginners, we learn music-reading and concepts through pattern-recognition and storytelling. With intermediate and more advanced students, we try to explore a wider palette of expression through varied tone colors and stylistic study, aside from developing technique. Each year, students volunteer to participate in at least four recitals held in churches, recital halls, and private salons. Students who competed locally have won awards in Virginia Music Teachers Association Auditions (District and State) and garnered superior distinctions from the Harrisonburg Music Teachers Association. Through these exposures, they become more motivated and comfortable in sharing music with different kinds of audiences. 

My educational background includes a master's degree from the University of Memphis, a Performance Diploma from the University of Denver, and a DMA degree from James Madison University. As an active performer of the solo and collaborative repertoire, my credits include performances in Austria, South Korea, France, Italy, Philippines, and in different cities of the US.

Education: B.A. EMU, Musikgarten training
Special Training: Musikgarten license
Role: Instructor
Instruments: piano, pre-school music classes

Hannah Shultz earned a BA in music education at Eastern Mennonite University, is a certified Musikgarten instructor and has completed Suzuki’s Every Child Can training. She started taking piano lessons in Cusco, Peru under the instruction of Flor Canelo and has since studied under Maurita Eberly, Dr. Anne Walter, Clement Acevedo and Dr. David Berry. Shultz teaches private piano lessons and early elementary music classes in the Preparatory Music Program. “Music has played a significant role in my life and I long to share the gift of music with others for the betterment of our world. I treasure opportunities to draw out and nurture the unique musical gifts and abilities housed in each child.”

Special Training: Bachelors in Music Interdisciplinary Studies
Role: Instructor
Instrument:  Mandolin

Perry has engaged music from a variety of angles, including composition, conducting, church
music, and folk music, earning his Bachelors in Music Interdisciplinary Studies with an emphasis
in Bible and Religion from Eastern Mennonite University in 2018. Perry began his instrumental
career on the violin at age seven with the Suzuki method. Today, after more than a decade of
honing his skills on the mandolin, he is committed to educating and sharing the traditions of
folk music in the Shenandoah Valley as a mandolin instructor and active performer with Willow
Run Band, The Rain Pickers, and other local collaborations, including with the EMU Theater
Department.

Before moving to Harrisonburg, Philip maintained a robust private studio in Denver, Colorado. While in Colorado, he served as the Vice President and Membership Coordinator for the Suzuki Association of Colorado, helping that organization expand its membership, collaborate with a variety of arts organizations within Colorado, and give out multiple scholarships a year for students and teachers. He is thrilled to experience all that the Shenandoah Valley has to offer!

Education: B.A. Wheaton College
Special Training: Suzuki teacher training 
Role: Instructor
Instruments: Suzuki violin  ** Studio Full**

Christa is a native of Greencastle, PA and began playing violin in the Suzuki method (age 5-11). She earned a BA in Music and a BA in English Literature from Wheaton College in IL, moving to Harrisonburg in 2012. She plays with the Waynesboro Symphony and at her church, and teaches Suzuki violin through EMU’s Preparatory Music program and after-school group classes for the Harrisonburg City Schools.

Education: M.M. East Carolina University
Special Training: Suzuki pedagogy
Role: Administrative Director, EMU Faculty, Jr. Strings director, Suzuki Violin teacher trainer
Instruments: Suzuki violin/viola, violin, viola

Sharon Miller lives and teaches in the Harrisonburg, VA area. She teaches violin and viola to children and adults in Eastern Mennonite University's Preparatory Music Program where she was the Program's Director for nearly 30 years. During that time she helped to forge a partnership with Harrisonburg City Public Schools in order to provide string education in curricular and extra curricular classes. In addition she teaches at Suzuki summer camps and Institutes. A registered Suzuki Violin Teacher Trainer, she has led teacher workshops throughout the United States and last year had the privilege of working with Latin American teachers at the Suzuki Festival in Lima, Peru. Mentoring young teachers is one of Sharon's passions. When not teaching or performing, Sharon enjoys traveling with her husband, spending time with nieces and nephews and volunteering with church and community groups.  

Education: D.M.A. James Madison University
Special Training: Suzuki teacher training
Role: Instructor
Instruments: Suzuki violin, violin

Violinist Steffany Shock began her musical studies as a child in Toledo, Ohio, where she studied with Eugene Goldberg, who was a student of Maurice Warner. As an orchestra musician she has performed extensively with groups in Northwest Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. She currently works as a freelance violinist in the Washington D.C. area and performs regularly with the American Festival Pops Orchestra and the Washington Concert Opera. Steffany holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from James Madison University, where she was the teaching assistant for Wanchi Huang, a Masters of Musical Arts from Pennsylvania State University, and a Bachelor of Music from Bowling Green State University. She has completed Suzuki teacher training for Violin Units 1-10.

Education:
Role: Instructor
Instrument: Suzuki Violin

Eve Yavny is a violinist and violin teacher based in Harrisonburg, VA. She started violin at the age of 6 in the Shenandoah Valley Preparatory Music Program, continuing on with her education at Eastern Mennonite University. During her time as a student, Eve served as concertmaster of the university chamber orchestra, a member of various chamber ensembles, and featured soloist of the university orchestra. She received her Bachelor's in music performance this Spring. Eve is Suzuki trained, teaching violin since 2018.

Role: Intern
Instrument: Suzuki Violin 

Education: B.M. University of Maryland
Special Training: Musikgarten license
Role: Instructor
Instruments: double bass, pre-school music classes

An active performer, Lindsay performs with numerous ensembles in the Shenandoah Valley, including Principal Bass of the Waynesboro Symphony, ensembles with Eastern Mennonite, James Madison, and Washington & Lee Universities, Shenandoah Valley Choral Society, Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival, Rockbridge Symphony, Lynchburg Symphony, New Orchestra of Washington, and many more.

Lindsay began Double Bass at the age of 8 while living in Mississippi. After moving to Denver, she attended Denver School of the Arts, where she earned her Arts Endorsed Diploma. While beginning her college studies in Denver, she served as Section Bass with the Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra, also performing with the Cheyenne (WY) Symphony. After transferring to the University of Maryland, she was a finalist in the UMD Symphony Orchestra’s 2009 Concerto Competition before graduating with her Bachelors of Music in Double Bass Performance in 2011. She has also served as the Double Bass Instructor at Howard Community College in Columbia, MD.  

In addition to performing, she enjoys playing with local folk bands, teaching private lessons, and Preschool Music classes at EMU. Her primary teachers include the late Kenneth Harper (Assistant Principle, Colorado Symphony), Susan Cahill (Colorado Symphony), Ali Yazdanfar (Principle, Montreal Symphony), and Robert Oppelt (Principle, National Symphony). 

Lindsay is a founding member of the League of Women Bassplayers (LOW B), serving on the Board of Directors with prestigious women bassists from across the United States and abroad. She also enjoys sewing; working in theatrical costuming at Wolf Trap Opera, Livermore Shakespeare Festival, and James Madison University, as well as quilting at Patchwork Plus in Dayton, VA. 

Lindsay and her husband, Michael, live in Harrisonburg, VA with their daughter Lydia. 

Education:Senior Voice and Guitar double Major at Eastern Mennonite University
Role: Instructor
Instruments: Guitar

Education:B.M. Music Composition from James Maddison University
Role:Instructor
Instruments: Guitar

Currently, Kaleb is a full time music teacher at Middletown Elementary School in Frederick County Virginia where he enjoys leading k-5 students through general music education, chorus, and ukulele classes. In private guitar lessons, he enjoys teaching all genres and forms of music, but is especially fond of fingerstyle and pop guitar. 

Education: D.M.A. In Flute Performance, Pedagogy, and Literature, JMU (ant. 2025), M.M. in Flute Performance, Colorado State University
Role: Instructor
Instruments: Flute