Ms. Katherine M. Wiley

Katherine has taught violin in Winston-Salem, North Carolina for 20 years, where she has had the privilege of teaching many students from preschool through beyond the Suzuki books. Her students have won numerous competitions and awards, and have performed as soloists several times with the Winston-Salem Symphony, Winston-Salem Youth Symphony, Roanoke Symphony, and the Danville Symphony. One of her students won a competition to perform the Bach Concerto for Two Violins with Midori and the Winston-Salem Symphony on their Classical Series Performances. Her students have also performed at the American String Teachers Association National Conference in Atlanta, and many have been selected for the Suzuki Youth Orchestras of the Americas.

Katherine attended Oberlin College and Conservatory, and received a Masters of Music Degree in Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy from East Carolina University. She also studied violin pedagogy with Mimi Zwieg at Indiana University, where she was an Assistant Instructor of String Methods. She has taught at numerous Suzuki Workshops and Institutes, and is the founder and Director of Blue Ridge Suzuki Camp in Orkney Springs, Virginia. (blueridgesuzukicamp.com). For several years she was co-president of the North Carolina Suzuki Teachers Association, where she organized two successful statewide play-Ins and worked to make the organization an SAA Chapter Affiliate. Recently, she was very involved in developing the Winston-Salem Symphony P.L.A.Y string program- developing the initial curriculum, teaching the pilot program, and training teachers.

Katherine is a member of the Winston-Salem Symphony, and has also performed with the Roanoke VA, Greensboro NC, Harrisburg PA, and Annapolis MD Symphonies. She has a passion for playing and teaching Irish, Scottish, and Canadian fiddling styles, and has won regional Scottish Fiddle competitions and competed at the national level. Her students have won numerous local and national fiddle titles, including the Galax Fiddlers Convention, Union Grove, and the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Junior Championship.

Katherine is married to Joseph Pecoraro, a classical guitar professor at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and a Suzuki Guitar Teacher Trainer. They have two sons who grew up studying the Suzuki method.