Iris Wei

Iris Wei is a faculty member and String Department Co-Chair at the Merit School of Music. An active educator, she maintains a violin studio of over forty students ages ranging from 3 to 18, teaches group classes, coaches chamber music and sectionals at Merit School of Music’s Tuition-Free Conservatory. Iris believes in building people: her greatest source of pride comes from guiding her students to become happy and healthy human beings—high-level musicians who are kind, know how to deal with adversity, and excel at whatever endeavors they pursue.

In her pedagogical training, Iris has had the privilege of learning from Michele George, Ed Kreitman, Nancy Jackson, Ann Montzka-Smelser, and Tom Wermuth. As a performer, Iris has performed with groups such as the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra, New Philharmonic, Rockford Symphony, and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Also a pianist, Iris switched her main focus to violin after being accepted as a scholarship student at Roosevelt University’s College of Performing Arts in Chicago, Illinois, where she completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Performance. Aside from making music and teaching, Iris is an avid runner, eater, and dog lover.