Mason String Intensive

Prof. June Huang is the Director of Strings and Assistant Professor of Violin at the Dewberry School of Music. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in applied violin, chamber music, pedagogy, and string methods. Prof. Huang has a Master of Arts from the University of California at Santa Barbara where she was a member of the Young Artist String Quartet. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory and attended the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as an undergraduate. Prof. Huang studied at the Meadowmount School of Music, Aspen Music Festival, Banff Centre for the Arts, and Kneisel Hall. Her primary teachers include Stephen Clapp and Ronald Copes.

Prof. Huang has performed with the National Philharmonic, Harrisburg Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Wolf Trap Orchestra, Washington Ballet Orchestra, and Amadeus Orchestra. She is a frequent chamber music collaborator and has appeared at the Staunton Music Festival, Red Lodge Music Festival, and Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia. A specialist on the baroque violin, Ms. Huang plays and records with Opera Lafayette, Four Nations, and REBEL Baroque Orchestra. Leadership positions have included concertmaster of the Washington Bach Consort and the Washington National Cathedral Baroque Orchestra.

Prof. Huang is certified by the Suzuki Association of the America and is a member of the initial cohort of Communicating Honor for Diversity. As a grant recipient from the Levine School of Music, she visited Matsumoto and studied violin pedagogy with Dr. Suzuki. Prof. Huang is an active clinician and was the Founder and Director of String Camp and Strings Plus at Levine Music in Washington DC for 27 seasons. She currently directs the Mason Community Arts Academy Strings Camp and High School String Intensive.

Professor Huang is a member of the Editorial Committee of the American String Teachers Association and a presenter at the ASTA National Conference for 2022 and 2023. Additionally, she will perform and present at the Midwest Clinic and at the state conferences of the Virginia Music Teachers Association and the Virginia Music Educators Association this season. Prof. Huang is studying the intersection of music education and citizenship, and she intends to complete a Masters Certificate in Contemporary Dispute Resolution at the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution next May.

Gerald Fowkes, cellist and conductor, is a graduate of Louisiana State University where he graduated summa cum laude in Cello Performance. His former teachers and mentors include Dennis Parker, Loran Stephenson, Wesley Baldwin and Pamela Frame. He has participated in master classes with cellists Gary Hoffman, Aldo Parisot, Erling Blöndal Bengtsson, and Paul Katz, amongst others. In addition, he holds a Master of Music Education from Brigham Young University where he studied string pedagogy with Andrew Dabczynski and Samuel Tsugawa. A Northern Virginia native, Gerald is an alumnus of the American Youth Philharmonic and a past Virginia Emerson Scholar at the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan.

From 2014 to the present, Mr. Fowkes serves as Director of Orchestras at Fairfax High School. From 2003-2014 he taught in Prince William County Schools and was the recipient of the 2014 Dale City Civic Association High School Teacher of the Year. In addition to his duties at Fairfax, he is conductor of the Young Artist Orchestra of the DC Youth Orchestra Program, and on the artist faculty as the Orchestra Director of the Greater Washington Suzuki Institute. From 2017-2020, Fowkes was Music Director and Conductor of the McLean Youth Orchestra. Prior to that position, he was on the conducting staff of the Youth Orchestras of Prince William from 2004-2017. He has had the distinct honor of guest conducting numerous honor orchestras throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia and is a frequent guest conductor at the annual JMU Spring String Thing.

Mr. Fowkes is currently a member of the George Mason University faculty, teaching applied cello, as well as courses in cello pedagogy and class strings. He is a frequent chamber music collaborator and a past chamber music fellow at the Hot Springs Music Festival and the Park City International Music Festival. A former member of the Baton Rouge Symphony, he performs frequently as a freelance cellist throughout the Baltimore/Washington metro area having performed with the Virginia, Fairfax, and McLean Orchestras amongst others. Mr. Fowkes maintains a private cello studio at his home where he resides with his wife and four children.

• MM Ed., String Pedagogy, Brigham Young University 
• BM, Cello Performance, Louisiana State University

Dr. Patrick LeStrange is a sought-after educator and musician in the Washington, D.C. area, where he currently serves as a Viola and Violin Teaching Artist at the Mason Community Arts Academy. Patrick has studied at the Peabody Conservatory (BM), as well as L’Université de Montréal (MM, DMA). His primary teachers have included Victoria Chiang, Jutta Puchhammer- Sédillot, and pedagogy studies with Rebecca Henry. During the summer months, Dr. LeStrange has served on the faculties of the MCAA Chamber Music Intensive, Ovations Summer Strings, Violin/ Viola Bootcamp at the Academy, the Summer Music Institute Ithaca College, and the NY ASTA String Institute at Ithaca College. In addition to his work with MCAA, Dr. LeStrange is currently serving as Strings Department Chair at Levine Music, Washington, D.C.

An avid chamber musician, Dr. LeStrange has performed in concert venues throughout the United States and Canada. He is a current member of the Washington Chamber Orchestra, where he frequently serves as Principal Violist. He is often heard in concerts and recitals at George Mason, performing with faculty members of the Academy and the University.