Ms. Carol Thomas Downing

Carol Thomas Downing, violin, fiddle, recorder, sight singing, music theory. M.A. Music Education, University of St. Thomas; B.A. Vocal Performance summa cum laude, Towson University.

Ms. Downing is an experienced violinist, singer, children’s choral director and an avid Celtic & Old-time fiddler. For over 40 years, she has trained young musicians from preschool through the university level. She specializes in teaching ages 4—adult, Suzuki Violin Books 1 – 7, and beginning through advanced fiddling. Her teachers include Berl Senofsky (violin) and Ruth Drucker (voice). Ms. Downing is former faculty member and chairperson of the Musicianship Department at the Peabody Preparatory of the Johns Hopkins University, where she taught violin, musicianship and chorus. Ms. Downing has served on the faculty of the Walden School for Young Composers (Dublin, N.H.) and is a contributing author to The Walden School Musicianship Course: A Manual for Teachers, (2002). She is Founder of the Peabody Children’s Chorus (Baltimore), and Founder/Artistic Director of the Virginia Children’s Chorus. Ms. Downing teaches violin and musicianship at her home studio in Portsmouth, VA, and at the Academy of Music, Norfolk. She is a frequent clinician for community Suzuki violin workshops, and conductor and adjudicator for All-City & District Chorus events. Ms. Downing is trained in the Suzuki and Kodaly methods. She is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, Chorus America, the Organization of Kodaly Educators, and the Suzuki Association of the Americas.