Tom Lee

Tom is the Director of the Suzuki program at Ensemble Music. Having lived in Japan, Tom has an affinity for all things Japanese and embraces the ennobling aspects of the Suzuki philosophy.

After receiving a bachelor’s in English from the University of Michigan, Tom traveled to Japan where he spent more than a year teaching English as a second language. Upon returning to the United States he was admitted to the school of music at the University of Minnesota to pursue a master’s degree in Music Education with an emphasis in Music Therapy.

Tom received his initial training in Suzuki Book 1 in the summer of 2006 and has been teaching ever since. He embraces Suzuki’s notion that Every Child Can play music beautifully, and with this in mind bases his lessons around positive reinforcement and what he calls “success experiences,” i.e., easily achievable progressive steps. Tom is also proud of the fact that virtually all the parents of his students, regardless of past music instruction, can play duets with their children within a few short months.