Ms. Joanne Shannon

Jo Shannon received her music degrees from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo and Wayne State University in Detroit. Musical experiences and training have included chamber music at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, the Detroit Symphony training orchestra (bass), and a European tour with the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony. While teaching public school band and vocal music, Jo discovered the Suzuki approach and started her daughter on violin. As a parent attending the Blue Lake Institute in Michigan she was put in touch with the piano program, sending her on the path to a rewarding thirty year Suzuki piano practice which involved training by teachers Gail Lange, Yasuko Joichi, and Mary Craig Powell. Moving to California put her in touch with SMAC/LA where she served on the Board for four years. Currently, Jo maintains an active Suzuki piano studio in Los Angeles, CA and served as Institute Director for the Southern California Suzuki Institute for five years.