Lily SlatonBarker grew up a Suzuki Kid and is now pursuing full qualifications as a Suzuki Teacher. She is completing her Bachelor’s of Music in Violin performance at the UO in 2024, and is planning to continue into a Master’s in Violin Performance and a Studio Teaching Specialization, studying with Dr. Sunmi Chang. Lily has been playing since she was 7 years old. She was concertmaster of the Anchorage Youth Orchestra, West High Orchestra, and performed as a soloist for Lalo’s Symphony Espagnole 1st movement with the Anchorage Youth Symphony. She is currently performing with the University of Oregon Symphony as a Principle Second violinist and is competing with a Piano Trio at the University of Oregon. She has also performed with #instaballet, EDME, and for various Church Services.

Violin has been Lily’s voice for personal expression, and she wants to share her love for music and violin with all the students she teaches. There is no need or requirement to be an amazing violinist in her studio, the only thing that is needed is a love for music and sharing it with others. Everyone has a musical voice, and each is beautiful and unique. Lily’s goal is to help each student find their own voice. One of her foci as a teacher is to set up her students with the tools to understand their physical bodies, using form, posture, and body-awareness knowledge. She has dealt with pain and tendonitis from playing violin, and she wants her students to have the tools to avoid those issues. Her Undergraduate Thesis involves writing a Companion Book for Suzuki Book 1 involving exercises and explorations paired to the Suzuki Repertoire that illuminate anatomical knowledge, body awareness, and ergonomical playing for each student. This will be a project she continues through all the Suzuki Books.

Lily has been teaching since 2019 and has experience coaching orchestras and small ensembles and teaching private and group lessons.  She has been on the faculty of the UO CMI program, and the Pavilanis School. Her violin teachers include Dawn Lindsay, Hal Grossman, Shelley Rich, and Dr. Sunmi Chang, and her teacher trainers include James Hutchins, Daniel Gee Cordova, Nancy Lokken, and Shelley Rich.

Degrees Planned

Bachelors of Music in Violin Performance 2024 University of Oregon
Studio Teaching Specialization 2025 University of Oregon
Suzuki Teacher Training Books 1-4 2024
Suzuki Teacher Training Books 5-8 2025
Suzuki Teacher Training Books 9-10 2026
Master of Music in Violin Performance 2026