Our Teachers
Margaret Motter Ward, Founder & Director
After earning her degree in viola performance from the Eastman School of Music, Mrs. Ward enjoyed a long career as orchestral violist and chamber musician with such organizations as the Rochester (NY) Philharmonic, Miami (FL) Symphony, Conservatoire Nationale du Liban (Lebanon), Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra (Washington, DC), and the Baltimore (MD) Symphony.
In 1985 she turned her attention to teaching and maintained a very active violin and viola studio in the Washington area until moving to Carroll County in 2001 where she joined the faculties of McDaniel College, Carroll and Frederick Community Colleges.
After retiring from all three college faculties in 2007, Mrs. Ward recognized the extreme shortage of trained string teachers and determined to remedy the situation by creating the Carroll County String Project.
I Gusti Bagus Wiswakarma (violin)
A native of Indonesia, Bagus Wiswakarma studied violin at the Hochschule fuer Musik und Theater Hamburg, Germany (Prof. Winfried Ruessmann). Additional pedagogical studies include the Amadeus Quartet, Brandis Quartet, Schleswig Holstein Music Festival in Europe and Asean Youth Music Workshop.
Mr. Wiswakarma is a concert soloist and Founder/Director of the Chamber Music Series (Jakarta, Indonesia 1999 – 2006). He also served as the Director of the International Music School (Jakarta, 2000 – 2006) and Music Director of the Jakarta Philharmonia 2003 – 2005.
Katie Cole (Flute & Early Childhood Music)
Katie Cole is employed by Carroll County Public Schools where she teaches elementary general vocal music and chorus for students K-5th grade. Katie received her Bachelor's of Music Education and K-12 Vocal and Instrumental Certification from Towson University and received a Masters of Music Education with Kodály Emphasis from The Hartt School of Music. Due to her interest in cognition and curriculum differentiation, she is currently studying Gifted Education at Johns Hopkins University and is also enrolled in their Mind, Brain and Teaching program. Her articles have been published by Music Educators Journal, American String Teacher Journal, American Suzuki Journal, Maryland Music Educator, and Nebraska Music Educator. Recently, she was awarded with a grant of a $1,000.00 from the Carroll County Public Schools Education Foundation to fund her student composer project. Katie has been a presenter at workshops for MUSIK and for the Washington Chapter of ECMMA on topics involving the young child's singing voice, and her students have been selected to be in the Organization of American Kodály Educators' Children's Choir for a national conference in DC. Katie teaches a choral class for the annual McDaniel College Orchestra Camp, and in the past, she has also been a faculty member of the Children’s Chorus of Maryland and School of Music. She enjoys performing with the Frederick Flute Choir as well as doing occasional solo work on her flute. In 2009, Katie was part of the World's Largest Flute Ensemble (1,989 flutists, a new Guinness World Record at that time) under the direction of Sir James Galway at the National Flute Convention in New York City.
Pamela (Ela) Dorothy Adams Wiswakarma (Piano & Early Childhood Music)
Ms Wiswakarma’s professional degrees include Vordiplom-Dinieren (Conducting) and Diplom-Rhythmik, Diplom (Hochschule fuer Musik und Theater Hamburg, Germany), Music Lehrerin (Eurhythmics music teacher) and a Bachelor of Arts (Music Education, St. Mary’s College, Maryland). She has special experience in the area of Piano Methods and is expert in the area of Eurhythmics and Movements. Pamela is and experienced teacher in preprimary, primary and secondary school, in areas of music, dance and drama.
Ms Wiswakarma’s extensive teaching, conducting and music director experience includes Australian International School Kemang Kampus, Jakarta; Sekolah Ichthus South, Jakarta; Sekolah Mentari, Jakarta; Bambino Kindergarten, Jakarta; Sekola Cita Buana; PPIA International Choir, Jakarta; Yayasan Musik International, Jakarta; The Harburger Maenner chor and the Harburger Frauen Chor and the Phoenix Orchestra in the Friedrich-Ebert Halle, Hamburg-Harburg, Germany; The Harburger Maenner Chor and the Harburger Frauen Chor in the Friedrich-Ebert Halla, Hamburg-Hartburg, Germany; The DESY Orchestra, Hamburg, Germany; The Hamburg Bach Society Orchestra, Germany. She has served as Guest Conductor for Orchestral Ensembles and Choirs in both Europe and America. Ms Wiswakarma won 1st Prize as conductor in the Choir competition in the Winsener Statd Halle, Winsen, Germany in September 1996.
Ms Wiswakarma has been a private piano instructor in Hamburg, Germany and a piano accompanist for concerts and recitals in Europe and America. In addition to her teaching and conducting experience, Pamela has also performed as a singer in the Baltimore Symphony Choir, Baltimore, Maryland.
Kathryn Harsha
Kathryn Harsha completed her Master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She earned her undergraduate degree at Bluffton University in Bluffton, Ohio, majoring in Piano Performance and Humanities. She has studied piano with Lucia Unrau, J. Harold Moyer, and Marshall Griffith.
Randy Ward
Randy Ward had a traditional start to his musical education and enjoyed many influences that resulted in his becoming a dedicated Suzuki cello teacher. His parents supported and encouraged his cello studies as he won honors and top ratings in his youth. His choice of East Carolina University for college allowed him to become familiar with the Suzuki Pedagogy program at ECU. His coaching at the North Carolina Suzuki Institute let him witness the "awesome power of Suzuki" as he saw children, parents, and teachers from different cultures and backgrounds all come together to learn and support each other. Being the oldest of all the grandchildren in his generation, Randy has been working with children all his life. In his own words he tells us, "Children have always enjoyed my fun personality, mild manner, and kind heart and I have always enjoyed the innocence of youth and the thirst children have for learning" Randy has been a private studio teacher since 2003 and is registered with the Suzuki Association of the Americas. Carroll County can now have a true Suzuki cello program for young children.
Eliza Leigh Frye
Mrs. Frye began her formal music education at the age of 6 on the piano. When she entered middle school her mother encouraged her to try the cello. Once she tried it, she fell in love with it, and hasn't been able to put it down since. She continued taking piano lessons and studying cello. She has studied with Ms. Robin Reinarz (former principal cellist of the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra), and Dr. Andrew Smith (principal of the Las Vegas Philharmonic, graduate coordinator of UNLV and cello teacher, UNLV). During her middle and high school years, she was heavily involved with the Las Vegas Youth Orchestras (sitting 1st chair), and played in both the Honors Orchestras and the Nevada All-State Orchestra.
Mrs. Frye received her Bachelor’s Degree of Music in Music Education with an instrumental emphasis at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2009 . She plans to continue her education in the fall of 2011 in the Masters of Music Education Program at Towson University. Her professional experience includes public and private school teaching, student teaching in elementary music at C.V.T. Gilbert Magnet School for Communication and Creative Arts, Las Vegas, Nevada. Mrs. Frye also served as a high school Student Teacher in Orchestra, Advanced Guitar Ensemble & Jazz Band in Las Vegas. She currently teaches Instrumental & Choral Music, in addition to Spanish at a small private school in Baltimore County, MD.
Mrs. Frye has 19 years of music-related experience, and 9 years of private teaching experience. She has taught Cello and Piano at the Family Music Centers in Las Vegas (2006 – 2009). In 2009 she moved from Las Vegas, Nevada to Carroll County Maryland. Before she joined the staff at the Carroll County String Project, Mrs. Frye was teaching privately at students homes, as well as substitute teaching for the Carroll County School District. Mrs. Frye has played with the UNLV Symphony Orchestra, UNLV Chamber Orchestra, UNLV Nextet Ensemble, and Westminster Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, in the summer of 2007, she was also asked to play for a masterclass in Austria for the Classical Music Festival. Mrs. Frye has also appeared on several recording albums for musicians in the Las Vegas area, as well as being asked to play with several Classic Rock Bands in casinos around the Las Vegas area. Most recently, she has started working with the JoeyDCares orchestra, and currently plays with the Sidori String Quartet for special events and weddings.
She sends this message out to all musicians (future and current): Friedrich Nietzsche once said, "Without music, life would be an error". Music is my passion and I hope to instill that passion in all of my students. I truly believe life without music would be a mistake. I hope that any student who is interested in music, whether as a career or just an outlet for creativity or passion enjoys their time and experience with music, even if it isn't with me.
Adam Paul Cordle
Adam Paul Cordle, violist, has distinguished himself as a soloist and chamber musician, appearing in recitals throughout the United States, Canada, and Israel. Adam recently performed solo Bach in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall as First Prize Winner of the 2011 American Protégé International Competition. He is a member of the chamber ensemble Pocket Philosophy, a group dedicated to promoting the accessibility of traditional and contemporary music through performance, education, and collaboration in a variety of venues and settings. His work promotes the arts as a channel for social progress by exploring issues related to education, health, and human rights and establishing the relationship between the arts and the human experience.
Adam is artistic director at the Olentangy Festival for the Arts and a teaching artist at the Olentangy Summer Strings Camp in Columbus, Ohio. Adam teaches violin and viola at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, Mount St Mary’s University, and the Carroll County String Project. He is former faculty member of the Hochstein School of Music and Dance, Kanack School of Music, and Baldwin-Wallace Community Arts School. He strives to provide students with opportunities to learn about collaboration, dedication, self-analysis, research skills, and social responsibility and believes that every person should have the opportunity to greater understand the human condition through the study of music.
In addition to his work as a performing and teaching artist, Adam is Media Coordinator and Board Member of the American Viola Society. He has been published several times in the Journal of the American Viola Society; his research focuses on the accessibility of classical music for contemporary audiences and has involved work with teaching artistry, pedagogy, aesthetics, philosophy, meditational means, discourse analysis, media studies, cultural psychology, and anthropology.
Adam has studied primarily with Karin Brown, Phillip Ying, Louise Zeitlin, and Deborah Barrett-Price, and has studied chamber music with members of the Ying and Cavani String Quartets. He has also studied with Kim Kashkashian, Karen Dreyfus, Carol Rodland, and Guy Ben-Tsiony as a participant in the Bowdoin International Music Festival, Festival d’Arts Orford, Music in the Valley: Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance, and Sound Encounters: Contemporary Music Festival. Adam earned his Master of Music in Performance & Literature from the Eastman School of Music and Bachelor of Music in Performance & Literature from Baldwin-Wallace College. He is registered in Suzuki Pedagogy through the Suzuki Association for the Americas.
Glenda Gail Walsh
Ms. Walsh currently holds a music degree from Carroll Community College and has studied music education and performance at Towson University. She has completed Suzuki pedagogical training for violin and viola, ECC and is registered with the Suzuki Association of the Americas. In addition to Suzuki, Ms. Walsh has training in Kindermusik. Despite her training via traditional methods she has come to love and respect the Suzuki method and only teaches in the Suzuki tradition. She has studied with Dr. Frank Hardy, Jeffery Howard, and Nicholas Currie.
Ms. Walsh is a member of various music organizations including SAGWA. She has played with The Westminster Symphony, Towson University, Maryland Youth Symphony Orchestra (MYSO), and other local groups. Ms. Walsh has had the opportunity to run sectional rehearsals with the Westminster Symphony. She has also played with various rock bands at Rams Head Live in Baltimore MD. In 2006 Glenda played on a concert tour of Italy with MYSO. In 2010 Glenda was selected out of many applicants to play under Marin Alsop for the first annual Rusty Musicians Concert. Ms. Walsh has been the recreational director for the McDaniel Summer Orchestra Camp. She worked for the Encore Music Association as a mentor. Currently, she plays in the Sidori String Quartet and Mariachi Sin Nombres. Ms. Walsh has studied violin for 17 years and has 9 years of experience as a professional private studio teacher.
At CCSP Glenda teaches violin and viola for the after school program at Robert Moton Elementary School. In addition to teaching she works as a freelance performer, mostly for weddings. Outside of music, Glenda is a talented artist. She is currently writing and illustrating three books that she hopes will help motivate pre-Twinkle and book one Suzuki students.
Glenda believes that learning and education should never stop. Even as a teacher, she strives to always see things from the perspective of the student. She has a “Mary Poppins” attitude towards teaching, that is learning should be fun and ideas introduced by games (which makes her a great talent when working with young children). Ms. Walsh’s main goal is not excellence, but character. Her first goal is creating a beautiful personality, to have a beautiful heart as Dr. Suzuki says. The secondary goal is the love, passion and discipline for music.