Leslie Whelan

Leslie Whelan has taught for 13 years in colleges, secondary schools, and private studios. She currently teaches private lessons in north Texas, performs with the Sherman Symphony Orchestra, and serves as the SSO’s Education Director. Leslie’s past students have been principal players in middle school, high school, youth, and regional orchestras. She is Suzuki certified to teach all levels, and has been invited to give Suzuki workshops and masterclasses in Texas and the southeastern United States.

Leslie has performed in such places as the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Ireland. She has been a section and principal player with orchestras and opera companies throughout Virginia. Leslie’s chamber music experience spans two decades. She has studied with the Guarneri, Kronos, Maia, and Pacifica quartets, and Kenneth Slowik of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society. As a chamber musician, she has been invited to perform for colleges and arts organizations in the mid-Atlantic, and at McGill University’s 2009 Haydn festival.

Leslie received her degrees from Ithaca College and the University of Maryland, College Park. She became a fully certified Suzuki instructor in 2012 after completing courses with Tanya Carey, Beth Cantrell, Pamela Devenport, Carey Beth Hockett, and Carol Tarr. Her past teachers include Evelyn Elsing, Uri Vardi, Elizabeth Simkin, Heidi Hoffman, Nicola Heinrich, and Suzanne Smith. Leslie is a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas.