Hannah Frey is an active chamber and orchestral musician in St Louis, Missouri. She is first violinist of the Perseid Quartet, plays regularly with the Union Avenue Opera Orchestra, the Metropolitan Orchestra of St Louis, with visiting shows at the Fox Theatre, and with a local band, Third Millennium World’s Fair. She has performed or collaborated with many other groups in the area including the St Louis Symphony, the MUNY Orchestra, and the Shakespeare Festival St. Louis.
Hannah is a native of Clinton, South Carolina. She received both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Linda Cerone and William Preucil.
Hannah is a dedicated educator with a large private studio and teaches students of ages and levels out of her home in St Louis. She is also on the violin faculty at Washington University of St Louis and recently joined the teaching staff for Beginning Strings for the Kirkwood District Schools. She believes that anyone can learn to play the violin and is insistent on sharing her love of music with others. Hannah is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music through the Music Teacher's National Association.
Hannah is a strong proponent of continuing education and learning from other teachers. She has received extensive Suzuki training with Vera McCoy-Sulentic, and taken various Suzuki courses and training with Teri Einfeldt, Rudy Hazucha, Susan Kempter, Charles Krigbaum, Kirsten Marshall, Sarah Montzka, Carol Smith, Daina Volodka Staggs, and Betsy Stuen-Walker. She has recently finished long-term training in the Creative Ability Development Method with Laura Nerenberg and loves teaching children to be creative. She has attended Indiana University's Retreat for Violin and Viola Teachers with Mimi Zweig and she also has certification for teaching Books 1-4 of the Mark O'Connor Method. She continues to take advantage of the online opportunities for education to continue to improve and grow in her teaching.
Hannah is not just a serious classical violinist. She plays regularly with the experimental folk group Third Millennium World's Fair (click here for their latest CD), who have played at various festivals and venues around the city, including the Artica Festival and Showcase St Louis. She played the role of “The Fiddler” in OnSite Theatre Company’s production of “The Runaway Cupcake” and helped as a composer and violinist for the remake of the same play, now titled "The Last Cupcake" for Shakespeare St Louis's 2019 Education Tour. Additionally she has performed with a variety of popular artists over the years, including The Who, Two Cellos, Weird Al Yankovic, Harry Connick, Jr., Josh Groban, and Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and she played electric violin as part of “The Prophecy Show”, a Trans-Siberian Tribute Band.
In addition to her musical skills, Hannah is also a writer. She won an essay contest sponsored by Thomastik Strings and her winning essay on “Tone” was published in the Suzuki Association of the Americas’ Summer 2009 Minijournal. More recently, in January of 2020, she had an article published in the American String Teacher Magazine called "Techie Teacher Truths: Using Technology in the Studio." She has had several reviews published in the American Music Teacher Magazine and she is on the review committee for the ASTA Magazine and will have reviews published in a few upcoming editions of the American String Teacher Journal. She also writes a blog about life, cats, traveling, and more!
