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Department of Strings

The Department of Strings offers a personal, supportive, and dynamic conservatory education combined with the outstanding resources and academic rigor of a top public university. The esteemed faculty champion individualized approaches to help each student fulfill their highest artistic and intellectual potential. Offering comprehensive programs including an extensive exposure to cutting-edge new music as well as an unswerving commitment to excellence in the standard repertoire, A variety of graduate and undergraduate degree programs within the department allow string players to choose a path best suited for their unique individual academic and musical goals. Through private instruction, ensemble coaching, musicianship classes, and entrepreneurial training, students learn a wide range of skills enabling them to succeed and adapt in today’s rapidly changing professional environment.

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Faculty

The Department boasts a seasoned and outstanding faculty, with a wealth of performance, teaching, and research experience. At Michigan, private study goes beyond a weekly appointment. Professors are accessible and involved mentors, deeply committed to their students’ growth as individuals as well as musicians. The faculty’s range of experience and expertise creates an incomparable in-house resource, while their commitment to teaching provides students with the foundation and real-world guidance needed to flourish in today’s musical landscape.


Eric Chin

Adjunct Clinical Instructor of Music

David Halen

Chair of Strings and Professor of Music
Violin

Yeonjin Kim

Assistant Professor (Pending Appointment – Fall 2026)
Cello, Strings

Performance Opportunities

From large ensembles in celebrated concert halls to chamber groups in intimate recital spaces, performance opportunities across all disciplines abound, with nearly 900 student performances each academic year. Whether your focus is on early, classical, or contemporary music, whether your passion is for jazz, electronic, or world music, there is an ensemble—or in many cases, multiple ensembles—to suit your interests.

smtd performance opportunities
Orchestras

Orchestras

SMTD orchestras offer numerous concerts each season, performing notable works in the symphonic repertoire as well as abundant newly commissioned works.

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Alumni Notes

More Alumni Notes
Bethlehem “Betti” Kelley (BM ’24, violin), third-prize laureate of the 2024 Sphinx Competition, recently appeared as a soloist with the Akron Symphony, performing Lark Ascending by Ralph Vaughan Williams. At SMTD, Kelley studied with Danielle Belen. (Fall 2025)
Anna Piotrowski (BM ’14, violin) has joined the faculty of Harold Washington College in Chicago, Illinois, as adjunct professor; she will teach music literature and work with private violin students. (Fall 2025)
A conductor and cellist, Chris Wild (BM ’05, cello; MM ’07, music education) conducts orchestras at Purdue University and the Wabash Valley Youth Symphony. A member of Chicago's Ensemble Dal Niente since 2007, he has recently performed for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's MusicNOW series and with the International Contemporary Ensemble and the Euclid Quartet. (Fall 2025)

Show Your Support

Any gift to SMTD helps launch the next generation of artists, scholars, educators, and entrepreneurs who challenge and inspire the world.

You can support the Department of Strings with a contribution to the Strings Enrichment Fund.

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