Annual String Day

Join us at Southeast Missouri State University's beautiful River Campus for an exciting day of violin, viola, cello, and string bass masterclasses, technique workshops, mini-recitals, audition tips, and string ensemble music! Open to all string students, high school age through college.  

Space is limited! Register early to ensure a place! 

Sample Schedule 

• 9 a.m.: Registration 
• 10 a.m.: Masterclasses 
• 11:15 a.m.: All-State Orchestra Excerpts; Entrepreneurship Workshop 
• Noon: Lunch on your own 
• 1 p.m.: General Technique Session: the Hal Grossman Method (violin, viola, cello & string bass) 
• 2 p.m.: String Orchestra Rehearsal 
• 4 p.m.: Final Concert: Guest Artists plus String Day Orchestra 
• 5 p.m.: End of Activities  

Cost

• Early Bird Registration: $20 (Registration received by Sept. 13, 2019) 
• Registration after Sept. 13: $25
  
• Cost includes lunch

Registration Deadline: Sept. 24, 2019  

More Information: 
Dr. Sara Edgerton
(573) 651-2140 
sedgerton@semo.edu 

String Day 2019 Clinicians 

Resident Artists 

Dr. Sophia Han, Applied Violin and Viola and Concertmaster of the Southeast Missouri Symphony 

Described by the Classical Voices of North Carolina as "a polished [and] fully professional performer," violinist Sophia Han is the Concertmaster and Assistant Professor of Upper Strings at Southeast Missouri State University. A versatile musician, Han is equally comfortable in classical and popular music settings having performed as guest soloist with orchestras across the US as well as appearing on tour with artists such as Michael Bublé, Audra McDonald, and STARSET. Currently serving as the Assistant Concertmaster of Paducah Symphony Orchestra, Han has also appeared as the Assistant Concertmaster of Tallahassee Symphony, Concertmaster of the 2016 Lake Tahoe Music Festival Orchestra, and is in demand as an adjudicator across the nation. With degrees from Florida State University (DM), University of Michigan (MM), and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (BM), Han's principal teachers include Corinne Stillwell, Aaron Berofsky, and the late Richard Luby, and has participated in masterclasses with Gil Shaham, Jennifer Koh, and Patinka Kopec, among others.  

Dr. Sara Edgerton 

Dr. Sara Edgerton is Professor of Cello and String Bass at Southeast Missouri State University, and is the Artistic Director of the Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra, in residence at Southeast Missouri State University. As a cellist, Dr. Edgerton performs throughout the United States and has collaborated with such composers as Aaron Copland, Karel Husa, Claude Baker and Morton Subotnick in performances of their works, and has premiered a number of works for the cello. She has performed with such notable period instrument ensembles as the Kingsbury Ensemble, St. Louis, and the Early Music St. Louis Ensemble, and is currently performing as a cellist with the Paducah, KY Symphony Orchestra.  

Dr. Edgerton has appeared at numerous festivals, including the International Music Festival (London and Oxford, England), the Aston Magna Festival in Massachusetts, the International Baroque Festival (Jackson, Mississippi), the St. Louis Baroque Festival, and the Southern Illinois Festival ("SIFest"). She has also performed in Shanghai and Hunan, China, as a member of the Christensen, Judd, and Edgerton Trio. In the summer of 2017, Dr. Edgerton participated in the International Festival Suoni d'Abruzzo, Italy, as a faculty member of the festival, where she performed as a cellist; she also conducted the festival orchestra in an all-Mozart concert as part of the festival activities.  

As the Artistic Director of the Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra, Dr. Edgerton conducts the orchestra in its highly successful Symphony Series at the River Campus at Southeast Missouri State University. She has conducted the symphony in regional, national, and international tours.  

Dr. Edgerton received her undergraduate degree in cello performance from the Eastman School of Music as a student of Ronald Leonard and Alan Harris, and the Master of Arts and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from Cornell University, where she was the recipient of numerous fellowships and awards. She also has studied extensively in England with artist teacher William Pleeth.  

Guest Artists 

Hal Grossman, violin 

Hal Grossman, violinist, has been enthusiastically acclaimed by critics and audiences alike for his “vibrant tone” and “superb technique”. Grand Award Winner of the Lima Young Artist Competition and Silver Medalist of the International Stulberg String Competition, Mr. Grossman also received First Prize Awards at the prestigious International Cleveland Quartet Competition and the National Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. His New York Debut at Carnegie Hall received exceptional reviews from the New York Times and he was honored to perform for their Royal Highnesses, Prince Charles and Princess Diana. In the United States he has also been heard on National Public Radio, WQXI-New York, WFMT-Chicago, and KING FM- Seattle. He has been featured at the Casals (Puerto Rico), Evian (France) music festivals as well as festivals in Italy and Germany and, in the continental U.S., the Aspen, Lancaster, Breckenridge, Fontana, Great Lakes, Marrowstone, Manitou, and Garth Newel music festivals. Mr. Grossman is Professor of Violin at The University of Oregon and on the violin faculty at the Aria International Music Academy and the Northwest Music Retreat. He is the founder and creator of The Grossman Method™, a course of study addressing musician’s health issues. Formerly, Mr. Grossman was on the faculty at the Interlochen Arts Academy and Camp.  

Kenneth Kulosa, cello 

Kenneth Kulosa, cellist, A native of Albuquerque, Ken Kulosa moved to St. Louis thirteen years ago at the invitation of the St. Louis Symphony. Kulosa came to St. Louis from Chicago where he played with the Chicago Symphony, the Grant Park Symphony, and the Chicago Chamber Musicians. At the same time, he held the post of principal cellist for both the South Bend and Northwest Indiana Symphonies.  

A graduate of the New England Conservatory and the University of Houston, Kulosa studied with Laurence Lesser and Hans Jorgen Jensen, later becoming Mr. Jensen's assistant at Northwestern University. An active pedagogue as well as performer, Kulosa is in great demand as a private teacher and in 2003 the Missouri Chapter of the American String Teachers Association named him their Artist/Teacher of the Year. He is active as a chamber musician throughout the St. Louis area with the Saint Louis Symphony's Community Partnership program, the Pulitzer Foundation, and as a member of the Sheldon Concert Hall's education series resident piano trio. Passionate about period performance, Kulosa is currently a member of the Kingsbury Early Music Ensemble and frequently performs music from the baroque and classical period on period instruments.