Meet Our Teachers
Amy Johnson is a violinist originally from Utah, she graduated from Southern Virginia University with a Bachelors in Music with a minor in Spanish. She taught as the beginning and intermediate strings instructor for Rockbridge Area Youth Strings (RAYS) in Lexington, VA and also taught private violin lessons in her own studio in Rockbridge County. She served as concertmaster in the Southern Virginia University Orchestra from 2017-2020 and also played in various chamber ensembles during her time there.
Amy is currently pursuing her Masters in Violin and Viola Pedagogy from the University of South Carolina where she is studying with Dr. Ari Streisfeld. She has completed Suzuki training for Every Child Can! through book 3 and plans to continue training in the near future as time permits. Amy’s goal as a teacher is to provide a nurturing and encouraging environment where students can learn and grow as not only musicians, but as truly good human beings.
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Emily graduated from Baylor University in Waco, TX, with both her Bachelor of Music Education in 2019 and her Master of Music in Cello Performance in 2021. She taught for another Suzuki program in Texas from 2015-2022 and loved getting to know the students and watch them grow as young musicians. Emily moved to Columbia in June of 2022 with her husband, who plays trombone for the 282d Army Band at Fort Jackson. She loves teaching private lessons and group classes, as well as performing with local professional orchestras and playing at weddings and other local events.
Emily Napper
Cello Instructor
Sarah Evanovich
Director/Cello Instructor
Sarah Jackson Evanovich is the Director of the Suzuki Academy of Columbia and the cello instructor at the Midlands Arts Conservatory in Columbia, SC, where she was one of two founding music educators. Sarah holds a Master of Music degree from Roosevelt University where she studied performance and pedagogy with Dr. Tanya Carey, and a Bachelor of Music in performance from the University of South Carolina, where she studied with Dr. Robert Jesselson. Mrs. Evanovich has registered Suzuki teacher training through the Suzuki Association of the Americas for all ten book levels.
Sarah's prior teaching positions include the Hyde Park Suzuki Institute and the MAGIC program in Chicago, as well as the USC String Project in Columbia. She is the immediate past-President of the Suzuki Association of South Carolina, and previously served on the board as Treasurer and Vice President.
In addition to teaching, Sarah enjoys performing with the string quartet that she formed with her three sisters and also with her husband, pianist/organist Joshua Evanovich. She was an associate member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and played in the Kankakee Valley Symphony Orchestra, the South Carolina Philharmonic, and the Aiken Symphony. In 2009, her quartet from Roosevelt University traveled to Quito, Ecuador to take part in the Mes Cultural Franz Liszt. Sarah has participated in summer festivals including the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, Killington Music Festival, Hot Springs Music Festival in Arkansas and the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts.
Emma Brown is a violist and violinist originally from northern Vermont. She started her musical training in the Suzuki method on the violin at the age of seven and discovered her love for the viola in high school. She received her Bachelor of Music Education from Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY in 2016. Prior to moving to South Carolina in 2018 she served as the Assistant Director and master teacher for the SOAR (Strings Off and Running) program at St. Mary’s School in Cortland, NY in addition to teaching private violin and viola lessons and performing with the Catskill Symphony Orchestra and Clinton Symphony Orchestra.
Emma was the first violist to receive a Master of Music degree in Violin and Viola Pedagogy from the University of South Carolina in 2020. While at UofSC she studied viola with Dr. Daniel Sweaney and Suzuki Pedagogy with Dr. Samara Humbert-Hughes and plans to continue with her Suzuki training on violin and viola. Emma also served as the Assistant Director of the University of South Carolina String Project under the direction of Dr. Gail V. Barnes. In addition to her position at SAC she also teaches a beginner strings class at Saxe Gotha Elementary School in Lexington and frequently performs as a freelance violist and violinist in the Columbia area.
Emma Brown
Violin/Viola Instructor
Administrative Assistant
Kristen Harris
Violin Coordinator/Instructor
Kristen Harris, a Suzuki student herself, received her Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Oregon, where she studied violin with Fritz Gearhart, and earned her Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of South Carolina, where she studied with Dr. William Terwilliger and taught at the USC String Project under the direction of Dr. Gail Barnes. Kristen has been teaching Suzuki violin method since 2007, has taught private lessons and group classes in the Suzuki Academy of Columbia program since 2011, and also taught grades 6-8 orchestra in the public schools. Her students regularly participate in regional and all-state youth orchestras and have won prestigious fiddle competitions such as the South Carolina State Fiddling Championship, Galax Old Fiddler’s Convention, and Mount Airy Bluegrass and Old-Time Fiddlers Convention. A multi-instrumentalist, Kristen is an active musician in the Southeast and performs and records regularly as a solo artist and with musical groups of various genres ranging from classical, old time, swing, and country, to bluegrass and rock, and has toured across the United States and in the United Kingdom. She is a member of the local gypsy jazz group Flat Out Strangers and the Americana group Boomtown Trio, and was the 2013 and 2019 South Carolina State Fiddle Champion. Kristen was the Jasper Magazine 2019 Artist of the Year, and was featured in the Summer 2020 Edition of Fiddler Magazine.
Amy Johnson
Violin Instructor
Christopher McDonald
Guitar Instructor
Christopher McDonald spends a tremendous amount of time contemplating the origins of harmony, how we learn music, how musical structures work, and how to cultivate artistry. He has not found any definitive answers, but in grappling with the ideas shared by music scholars, historical musicians, his colleagues, his teachers, and his students - accompanied by his own musical musings - he has developed a few working ideas that have shaped his performance, pedagogy, and scholarship.
Christopher began his musical life as a rock musician performing around Michigan as a solo artist and founding member of “Falling For Sunshine.” Concurrently, he studied jazz, blues, and a variety of world music traditions under Bryan Rombalski, which culminated in his interest in music as an intellectual and academic pursuit. Christopher was introduced to the classical guitar by Dr. Brad DeRoche, which became an immediate passion. While pursuing an undergraduate degree in mathematics, Christopher was an active member of both the Central Michigan University Guitar Studio and the “Mid-Michigan Classical Guitar Quartet,” and created a guitar curriculum and taught for “The Childrens’ School of Music.”
Christopher left Michigan in 2016 to further his musical education at the University of South Carolina, where he has studied under Christopher Berg. While completing his Master’s Degree in Music Performance, Christopher was a Graduate Assistant for the guitar studio, a member of the contemporary chamber ensemble “Spark Collective,” and led worship for the Keenan Chapel of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia South Carolina. Christopher is a Candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Music Performance at the University of South Carolina, continuing his studies with Christopher Berg, where he was a Graduate Assistant for the Music Theory and Aural Skills department, taught basic and intermediate guitar courses, is a member of the University of South
Carolina Graduate Guitar Quartet, and teaches guitar and music theory for “Carolina Music Studios.” Most recently, Christopher completed the Suzuki “Every Child Can” and “Book 1” trainings, participated in the “Aaron Shearer Summer Institute,” and has been conducting research into Polish lutenist, Jakub Reys, and his influence on the harmonic writing found in French Baroque lute music for his dissertation and future scholarship. Christopher will be teaching guitar lessons, leading a “Pre-Twinkle” group class, and directing the “Advanced Guitar Ensemble” through the Suzuki Academy of Columbia & USC starting Fall 2023.
Adam Rafferty
Cello Instructor
Adam Rafferty was born in Owensboro, Kentucky and began playing cello at 4 years old under
Dr. Joan Mack, graduate of Eastman School of Music and a teacher of the Suzuki method. While
in her studio he successfully auditioned and performed in the Kentucky All-State Orchestra as
well as The Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts. Adam graduated from the University of
Kentucky with degrees in Cello Performance and Public Relations. After graduating in 2007, he
relocated to Nashville Tennessee where he worked as a freelance cellist and played in a string
quartet. This experience allowed him to learn alternative styles of music including Bluegrass,
Rock, and Jazz which he integrates in his teaching. In 2019, Adam received a degree in Music
Education from the University of South Carolina. He has also received Suzuki Cello training from
Dr. Tanya Carey and Dr. Beth Cantrell. In addition to his involvement at the Suzuki Academy of
Columbia, he currently teaches Orchestra and Guitar at Brookland Cayce High School. His
teachers have influenced his teaching philosophy that it is with great joy that he teaches
children to love, understand, and perform music.
Jessica received her bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance from Shenandoah Conservatory. Upon graduation from Shenandoah, she was invited by Joanne Bath to study Suzuki Pedagogy at East Carolina University. Jessica completed her training and is registered in Every Child Can! through Suzuki book 10. She continues her training as a life long learner. Jessica lived in Charlotte, NC from 2011-2016 where she taught at the Community School for the Arts and the Charlotte Academy of Music. She currently lives in Columbia, SC with her husband Adam and their son. She is the Parent Education Coordinator and Violin instructor at the Suzuki Academy of Columbia. She has been teaching with the program since 2015.
She performs frequently with the Union Symphony, Aiken Symphony, and the SC Philharmonic as a sub. Outside of classical violin, Jessica has a passion for the Electric Violin. She has worked with Mark Wood, assisting with Electrify Your Strings program and is on staff at the Mark Wood Rock Orchestra Festival. She is very passionate about violinists being true musicians and having the ability to play all styles of music. Her goal is to create a love and passion for music in a positive and nurturing environment, all while having fun! She hopes to be an inspiration to her students and be with them along their own personal musical journey.
Jessica Rafferty
Violin Instructor
Suzuki Education Coordinator
Steve Sloan
Guitar Coordinator/Instructor
Steve Sloan is the guitar instructor for Suzuki Strings at USC and an adjunct professor of music at the University of South Carolina Aiken. He won first prize in the 2007 James Stroud Classical Guitar Competitions and was a third-prize winner in the 2010 Rosario Guitar Competition. Sloan has been heard in a variety of venues across the United States including Presbyterian College (SC), Nashville Public Library (TN), Oberlin Conservatory (OH), and others. In addition to his solo activities, Sloan performs duos with his saxophonist wife, Mandy, and has served as a faculty member for the annual Southern Guitar Festival and Competition. Mr. Sloan has been teaching guitar since 2004.
Steve received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Akron’s School of Music studying under Stephen Aron and earned his Master of Music Degree from the University of South Carolina where he held a graduate teaching assistantship under Professor Christopher Berg.