Meet our Teachers!
Here at D Z Strad we believe in developing creativity through music education. Each teacher has been carefully selected for their energetic, passionate, and careful approach to teaching. Our teachers are highly skilled at their respective instruments and have received top training from the most prestigious institutions across the world. Not only are our teachers skilled and trained educators but they also maintain busy performing schedules, performing in some of the most respected venues in New York. The teachers at D Z Strad have experience in teaching all ages from children to adults, and host the skills to adapt to your goals and needs as a music lover!
Camille Dietrich - Cello
Described as “…demonstrating a facility with a multitude of musical languages” by British avant-garde music magazine The Wire, cellist Camille Dietrich enjoys a rising career as soloist and chamber musician in New York City. Camille has a particular affinity for contemporary music, and has worked with various contemporary chamber groups. As an alumni of contemporary music education program Face the Music and the Face the Music Quartet, she has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, Symphony Space, the Baryshnikov Theater, (Le) Poisson Rouge, Roulette, and toured in Washington DC. Alongside the members of the Kronos Quartet, she performed the world premiere of Pelle Gudmundsen Holmgreen’s string quartet “All in One,” a piece commissioned by the Kronos Quartet. Camille has also performed and recorded Steve Reich’s “Triple Quartet” with the JACK Quartet, which was broadcasted on WQXR radio. In 2017, Camille and her father, avant-garde saxophonist Don Dietrich released their duo album, DIETRICHS, on Pica Disk Records, which was reviewed in the November 2017 issue of The Wire. Camille and her father were also recognized in www.jazzrightnow.com's list of Best Live Concerts of 2018. Camille has appeared as a soloist with the North New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, the Rockland Symphony, and has performed solo recitals throughout NYC and the larger New York metropolitan area. She is an active chamber musician and founding member of the Madkoi Quartet, has performed at venues such as Lincoln Center and (RED) Charity Foundation, and was an artist in residence at Bronx Prep. Camille performed Gunther Schuller’s Octet as a winner of the Lillian Fuchs Chamber Music Competition in 2017. Additionally, she has performed in numerous jazz chamber ensembles. Camille completed her undergraduate degree at Manhattan School of Music studying cello performance and cello pedagogy with Marion Feldman, who is a world-renowned pedagogue. Camille has a special interest in teaching and enjoys working with children as well as adult students. Camille received her Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music in 2020, where she studied with Julia Lichten and David Geber. Camille has also had the opportunity to study improvisation with talented jazz musician, Regina Carter.
YoonJung Hwang
Yoon Jung Hwang is an active freelancer from Korea. She started violin at the age of 4 and was admitted to Shenyang Conservatory of Music in China when she was 12 years old. During her time there she was awarded many scholarships for excelling academically and musically. After studying at the Shenyang Conservatory of Music, Yoon Jung was admitted to several colleges in the United States in 2014.
Yoon Jung decided to attend Manhattan School of Music with Isaac Malkin to further her studies in classical music, then transferred to the Aaron Copland School of Music to study with Daniel Phillips, finishing her Bachelor’s degree there this year, she is the recipient of LeFrak Fund/Endowment Scholarship and Cantor S. Katz Scholarship Fund. She has had masterclasses with Yura Lee, Gregory Fulkerson, and Lewis Kaplan. In 2018 she worked at the New York Big Apple International Music Festival as assistant chamber coach and played at the Lake Tahoe Music Festival, and will be joining the Chamber Music Center of New York as viola counselor in 2019, as well as returning to Lake Tahoe.Lisa Pappas - Violin/Viola
Annette Misener - Violin/Viola/Cello
Memphis native Annette Misener is happy to be a part of the faculty and staff at DZ Strad since Fall '19. Annette has her Violin Performance Bachelor’s from the University of Memphis and Master’s from SUNY Purchase College. Annette also returns to Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan as faculty for Camp seasons during the Summer. During the year, Annette enjoys teaching private lessons in violin, viola, cello, and piano, and coaching chamber ensembles in the New York City area. In addition, Annette performs frequently Musical Theater, Opera, Orchestra, and solo repertoire, fluent in the classical canon as well as championing new music. She also has numerous studio credits and has appeared on a number of tracks, both on violin and voice, some can be heard on her SoundCloud. When Annette isn’t playing violin, she works closely with the non-profit Arts Youth Empowerment, an arts-centered Leadership, Entrepreneurial, and STEAM-integrated program, as the New York area administrator with the freshest class being Kindergarten Violin in the Bronx.
Yusuke Akasaka - Piano
Yusuke Akasaka, a native of Japan, has studied classical piano performance at Aaron Copland School of Music (CUNY Queens College) for his Bachelor of Music degree and graduated Cum Laude. Yusuke excelled in music theory and had straight A’s in the relevant courses. During college, Yusuke worked as an accompanist in the New York Mixed Chorus. In his career as a piano instructor, Yusuke has taught various students from all the age groups (3 to 65) and different cultural backgrounds at Juliet Music, Piano Verse, and Japanese Children’s Society, Inc. In March 2019, Yusuke launched a piano lesson channel on YouTube which is appreciated especially by adults and late starters and has more than 11K subscribers as of January 2021.
