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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.


David Halen

Chair of Strings and Professor of Music
Violin

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.

Chamber Music

Chamber Music

The thriving chamber music scene at SMTD offers students nearly limitless options to perform, innovate, and collaborate in small, self-driven, and diverse ensembles.

Early Music Ensembles

Early Music Ensembles

Students interested in historically oriented performance have opportunities to explore music from across the centuries, performed on authentic period instruments and high-quality replicas.

Solo & Studio Recitals

Solo & Studio Recitals

Across all disciplines, students perform and study with their peers in studio classes and perform for the public in solo student recitals and studio recitals.

Jazz Ensembles

Jazz Ensembles

With large and small jazz ensembles exploring a range of styles, SMTD offers abundant opportunities for students – music majors and non-majors alike – to perform.

Our Stories

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Alumni Notes

More Alumni Notes
Violinist Yuki Numata Resnick (MM ’06, violin, chamber music) began her career performing and recording around the globe. She co-founded Buffalo String Works in 2014, improving youth access to music education, and she became director of arts and culture at the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo in 2023.
Kristen Pellegrino (MM ’93, violin; PhD ’10, music education) is a professor of music education at the University of Texas at San Antonio, who has authored and edited 40 scholarly publications. She served as president of the American String Teachers Association from 2018-2024.
Stephanie (Pelz) Bennett (BM ’76, harp) shared her expertise as the featured speaker for two online events in the summer of ’23: “Harp Teachers’ Gathering,” presented by Melody’s Traditional Music (Texas) on July 6, and “Hangin’ with the Harp,” presented by Atlanta Harp Center (Georgia) on August 15.

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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