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Virginia Tech String Project

Students of the Virginia Tech String Project stand on a baseball field holding their stringed instruments, with the bleachers in the background

Our Mission:

To provide high quality and inclusive string music education for our communitity and to prepare Virginia Tech's undergraduate and graduate music students for success in their futures as music educators.

The award-winning Virginia Tech String Project, founded in 2007, is the signature community enrichment program for the music program at Virginia Tech. Our program is a member of the National String Project Consortium, founded in 1998, to address a national string teacher shortage through a plan that establishes teacher-training programs at universities throughout the country. Master string teachers work with Virginia Tech’s undergraduate music students to teach all classes. We fill a significant gap in the public-school system curriculum by providing beginning lessons in strings to students in the 3rd and 4th grades as well as providing a space for older students’ musical growth through multiple string orchestras for those with prior experience.

Academic Year

Instructor teaching a class to grade school students

Summer Camp

Three campers pose with their string instruments.
  • $15 covers the cost of instrument rental for a brand new string player to use at exploration camp
  • $60 provides a full scholarship for a brand new string player to experience learning the string instrument of their choice 
  • $155 provides a full tuition scholarship for an advancing string player to participate in our summer intensive

Meet our Faculty

The Virginia Tech String Project staff pictured together on stage.
(L to R) Yi-Wen Evans, Molly Wilkens-Reed, Tommy Cummins, Mazi Zachary, Noah Blanco-Alcala, James Kim, Martha Chen, Josie Chase, and Sarah Fox.

Director
Molly Wilkens-Reed

Artistic Director
Alan Weinstein

Master Teachers
Joey Ballard
Yi-wen Evans

Student Teachers
Julia Calcagno
Lindsey Finks
Grace Carey Kistler
Genevieve Kopp
Vera Kovalskaya
Darnell Leon 
Olivia Seidenberg
Catherine Tyre

News and Awards

  • Keep up to date with the latest news and stories from the Virginia Tech String Project by following our Facebook page!
In the News Photo