String Clinic Faculty
Violin: Brittany MacWilliams, Helen Bohannon‡, Kathryn Burger Johnson*
Viola: Kathryn Burger Johnson* Cello: Susannah Onwood*†, Lori Getty*‡
Bass: Karl Olsen*†‡
* IU Southeast Music Department faculty
† Member of the Louisville Orchestra
‡ IU Southeast Arts Institute faculty
Kathryn Burger Johnson (clinic director, violin, viola) was a founding member of the Floyd County (IN) Youth Symphony. After graduating with honors from DePauw University, she performed with the Louisville Orchestra, then served as a graduate assistant at the University of Hawaii. Ms. Johnson returned to Indiana to teach in the New Albany/Floyd County school system where she currently instructs elementary string students. She recently received a Master of Science in Music Technology degree from Indiana University-Purdue University. Ms. Johnson continues to perform professionally and enjoys arranging music for young string players.
Brittany MacWilliams (violin) has an active career both as performer and educator. She made her professional violin debut at age ten with the Louisville Orchestra and went on to win numerous competitions including the Music Teachers National Association competition. Since then, Ms. MacWilliams has performed extensively as soloist and concertmaster in such diverse locales as Istanbul, Beijing, Salzburg, Munich, Lisbon, and New York. She has had solo engagements with such orchestras as the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Munich Hochshule Orchestra, Kentucky Symphony, and Aspen Chamber Symphony. Ms. MacWilliams can be heard as soloist on two critically acclaimed compact discs of Giornovichi Violin Concerti for the Arte Nova Classics/BMG label. As a frequent recitalist and avid chamber musician, Ms. MacWilliams performs in duos, piano trios, and string quartets throughout the United States. She is a founding member of the Baur Quartet and the Xavier Trio and has recorded four compact discs for the Vital Sounds label, including the Ten Celebrated String Quartets of W.A. Mozart. She can also be heard on “Passion from the Romantic Era,” a CD featuring Brahms’ Violin Sonata in D minor. She was chosen as resident artist for the Next Generation Music Festival where she toured and performed with the Baur Quartet and pianist Awadagin Pratt. Ms. MacWilliams is currently a member of the Violin faculty at the University of Louisville and at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. She has been Director and a member of the Violin faculty of the Starling Preparatory String Project since 1996, and at Xavier University, she has taught violin, viola, and chamber music for the past six years. During the summers, she has served on the faculties of the Aspen Music Festival and the Great Wall International Music Academy in Beijing. Ms. MacWilliams was the first winner of the Dorothy Richard Starling Teaching Fellowship in 2001, and over the years her students have won national competitions, performed with major orchestras, and received music scholarships to many top universities and conservatories. Ms. MacWilliams received her B.M. and M.M. degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Helen Bohannon (violin) is a 1982 graduate with a performance degree from Indiana University, Bloomington. She studied with renowned artists such as James O. Buswell IV, Miriam Fried, Greg Fulkerson, and with Stanley Ritchie for Baroque Violin. Helen has performed with the faculty of the Eastman School of Music and as a member and soloist with the Owensboro Symphony. As an auxiliary member of the Louisville Orchestra, she performed with the orchestra in their 1989 tour to Carnegie Hall. Helen has performed as concertmaster for the Southern Baptist Seminary Orchestra, the Indiana University Southeast Orchestra, and the Jewish Community Center Orchestra. She has been a member of the IU Southeast Music Department faculty since 1991 and conducted the IU Southeast Orchestra during its 1997 concert season. Helen is also the first violinist and vocalist for the Classical Choice Trio and is Music Director at Grace Lutheran Church in New Albany, and served as co-director of the Floyd County (IN) Youth Symphony during the 2004-2005 season. In 1999, the Floyd County (IN) Council for the Arts recognized Helen Bohannon as a Floyd County Artist of the Century.
Susannah Onwood (cello) has been principal cellist of the Louisville Orchestra since 1975. She was born in Toledo, Ohio, earned her Bachelor of Music and Performer’s Certificate at the Eastman School of Music and her Master of Music at Indiana University. Her major teachers include Ronald Leonard and Janos Starker. She has played in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and been principal with the Ft. Wayne Philharmonic and the Orquesta de la Minera in Mexico City. She participated in a number of summer festivals including the Aspen Festival in Colorado and the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico, as well as summer study at Meadowmount and the Chautauqua Festival. Ms. Onwood was for many years the cellist with the Louisville String Quartet and the Luvisi/McHugh/Onwood Trio. She has performed with the Ceruti Chamber Players, the Kentucky Center Chamber Players, has given many cello and chamber recitals and been featured soloist with orchestras such as the Toledo Symphony, the Ft. Wayne Philharmonic, the Indiana Chamber Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Louisville Orchestra, and the Louisville Jewish Community Center Orchestra. In 1985, she founded the Kentucky Cello Club and for six years was President. More recently, she along with other members of the Louisville Orchestra formed The Crescent String Quartet which has played many recitals, both to high critical acclaim.
Lori Getty (cello) is a graduate of the University of North Carolina with a Master’s Degree in Cello Performance. She has Suzuki training in violin and cello and maintains a private teaching studio. Lori has been the cellist for Classical Choice String Trio for over 10 years.
Karl Olsen (bass) began musical studies in Suzuki Violin, in Wausau, Wisconsin. Mr. Olsen began double bass studies in 1991 with David Dunn at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. Before earning a Bachelor of Music Education degree in 1996, teaching at the Wausau Conservatory of Music and playing in numerous Big Bands and combos, Mr. Olsen decided to begin orchestral studies in earnest and eventually focused completely on orchestral playing, enrolling at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. While working with Bruce Bransby at IU, Mr. Olsen continued his teaching both privately and as an IU Associate Instructor. Between 1996 and 2001 Mr. Olsen completed a Master of Music degree and began Doctoral studies. During those years he performed regularly as Assistant Principal in the Evansville Philharmonic and Owensboro Symphony Orchestras, Principal Bass of the IU Philharmonic, New Music Ensemble and Baroque Orchestra, earned fellowships and titled positions in Music Festivals, studied with Gary Karr, Stuart Sankey, Paul Ellison and Edgar Meyer and freelanced in many professional groups from Charleston, South Carolina to Albuquerque, New Mexico. In September of 2001 Mr. Olsen joined the illustrious New World Symphony Orchestra, a fellowship training orchestra under the baton of Michael Tilson-Thomas, Music Director of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. On October 16th, 2001, Mr. Olsen joined the Louisville Orchestra bass section.
