Carrie started studying the violin at the age of four under the tutelage of Uli Reiner a well-known Suzuki instructor in San Diego, CA.  She continued violin when her family moved to Chicago and started lessons with Drostan Hall, who studied under the famous Vermeer Quartet of Chicago.  Under Mr. Hall, of The Hall School of Music, she had the opportunity to participate in Master Classes with David Taylor, co-concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Dr. Zinger from DePaul University.  While in high school, she started a private string studio during the summers.  She tutored basic to intermediate violin for students ages four to thirteen. Carrie graduated with Honors from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor of Music Education (K-12) in May 2004.  At Illinois, she participated in both symphonies and served as the Concertmaster of the Illini Symphony.  She played in chamber groups and took lessons from famous German violinist Peter Schaffer. Carrie student taught in Champaign Unit #4 school district in the spring of 2004.  Each day she worked with elementary, middle, and high school string orchestras with Dr. Rodney Mueller.  After graduating with a Bachelor in Music Education (K-12) and Teacher Certification, Carrie and her husband and moved to Austin, Texas to begin their careers. Carrie was given the opportunity to instruct strings as the Orchestra Director at Lamar Middle School, Jefferson Elementary, Garcia Elementary, and Meredith-Dunbar Elementary in Temple ISD. In January 2005, Carrie established her private string studio in Round Rock, Texas. Carrie now maintains a year-round, large private string studio of 26 + students. She is thankful for her extensive education and diverse string background that allows her to teach so many different students. She is qualified to teach violin (beginning-advanced), viola (beginning-intermediate), cello (beginning), and double bass (beginning). With her Strings K-12 degree, Carrie is comfortable teaching children as young as 4 and also adult beginners. On top of her classical training, she is currently starting the process to become certified in the Suzuki Violin Method. For her students, she organizes two recitals a year. Every six months her private students perform a solo on their instrument with piano accompaniment. Last summer, Carrie was contacted by orchestra directors in Round Rock ISD to teach lessons during the school day. The Round Rock ISD has a program, IMIP, where professional string instructors are invited to teach lessons in school orchestra programs. This 2005-2006 school year, she has successfully taught middle school string students at Chisholm Trail, Canyon Vista, and Grisham schools. Carrie also teaches in a similar “IMIP” program at Georgetown High School and Forbes Middle School in Georgetown ISD. Carrie currently serves as the Assistant Concertmaster for the Austin Civic Orchestra. The ACO is a large civic symphony that performs a full concert season from September to June each year. In addition to her full-time string studio, Carrie also enjoys performing in a string quartet for weddings and special occasions.