Trisha Berquist

Trisha Berquist enjoys an active and varied career as a performer and pedagogue. She received her B.M. and M.M. in Music Performance from the University of Memphis, where she received the Music Performance Scholarship, the Early Music Achievement award, and a graduate assistantship. Her primary teachers include Jacob Adams, Lenny Schranze, and John Ravnan. She has studied and participated in masterclasses with Kirsten Docter, Carol Rodland, Heidi Castleman, Roger Chase, and Erika Eckert. She is a doctoral candidate at the University of Alabama, where she also received a full graduate assistantship. Trisha has registered Suzuki training for books 1-4 in Violin and Viola with Libby Armour, Joann Martin, and Betsy Stuen-Walker.

Trisha previously held the position of Violin/Viola Instructor at Mississippi State University, and conducted the strings orchestra. During the summers, Trisha often teaches at the Interlochen Arts Camp and other Suzuki camps. Trisha was also Assistant Director for the Dorothy Gerber Strings Program which provides free strings programs to the schools of Northern Michigan. Trisha has a wide range of experience teaching students of all ages. She aims to nurture the love of music in all of her students through focusing on their innate creative potential.

Trisha is passionate about engaging and inspiring diverse audiences through innovative programs and performances. She spends much of her career performing and teaching chamber music as an educational tool to build communities. Recently, she was the violist for the Cummings String Quartet who teach and perform as artistic representatives throughout Northern Michigan. During her time in Alabama, Trisha played with the Capstone String Quartet, who toured internationally throughout Europe. The Capstone Quartet works with the String Quartet Society in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to give the public a better knowledge of string instruments and quartet repertoire. The quartet also assists the Strings in Schools program by providing focused educational opportunities and performances for the children of Tuscaloosa. Previous Chamber Music instruction includes the Arts Reaching Middle and Elementary Schools program in Greenville, SC.

Trisha has appeared regularly with many orchestras across the country including West Michigan Symphony, Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra, North Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, West Michigan Symphony Orchestra, and Mobile Symphony Orchestra. Trisha performs in a variety of other ensembles including opera orchestras, musical theater productions, and baroque viola in early music ensembles.Trisha is the Assistant Director of the Dorothy Gerber Strings Program, and is the violist for The Cummings Quartet. She has performed throughout the midsouth, including the Capstone String Quartet, Mobile Symphony Orchestra, Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, North Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, and principal violist of the Starkville Symphony. Trisha received her B.M. and M.M. in Music Performance from the University of Memphis where she studied with Lenny Schranze and Tim Shiu. She has studied and participated in masterclasses with Heidi Castleman, Roger Chase, and Erika Eckert. Since 2003 she has been giving lessons to children age 4 to adults. During the summers she has taught at the esteemed Interlochen Arts Camp in Interlochen, MI which offers arts programs for ages 3-12. She completed her long term Suzuki training at the University of Memphis with Libby Armour, and she continues to participate in Suzuki institutes during the summer. Currently, Miss Berquist is a Doctorate of Musical Arts candidate at the University of Alabama.