Friday, September 16, 2011

Trumbull High School names new orchestra director

Justin Elkins, the new orchestra director of Trumbull High School, is a versatile music educator and performer who has been in the area since 2007. Since then, he has been an active performer in the cello section of the Norwalk Symphony and has performed numerous concerts with his wife, Marija, a pianist, as the Elkins Duo, such as at the 9/11 memorial service in Norwalk and at the University of Bridgeport in a concert to raise funds for earthquake relief in Haiti. After receiving his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in cello performance at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, he founded the cello department at the Talent Education Suzuki School in Norwalk in 2007 and remains the department chair of the cello department there. He has also worked extensively as a string educator in the public schools, working in Fairfield with both high school orchestras and in Bridgeport through the K.E.Y.S. program, Kids Empowered by your Support, a non profit organization which provides music lessons to underprivileged elementary students in Bridgeport Public Schools. “I am very excited to have the opportunity to work with the string students of Trumbull High School and am eager to challenge the students to achieve their potential, and encourage other string players who might not already be in the orchestra to join as I would like to create an honors ensemble that will perform in outreach concerts throughout the community in locations such as senior homes, libraries, and other public places, so that we can share our music and our growth. I am also interested in providing opportunities to the students to perform community service through music by coaching and mentoring less fortunate students in Bridgeport through the K.E.Y.S program.”