Courtney Hanna-McNamara

Courtney Hanna-McNamara began her Suzuki violin studies at age 5 with Kay Ellickson and her traditional piano studies one year later. Courtney studied violin performance at Lawrence University under Georgios Demertzis and Stephane Tran Ngoc, along with English and education. Since 2003, she has worked as a classroom teacher and interventionist for grades K through 12 in schools across Illinois, Wisconsin, and Colorado. She has also served as an instructional coach for educators across a variety of disciplines and grade levels.

Courtney maintains a studio in the Suzuki Strings program of the NIU Community School of the Arts under the direction of Ann Montzka Smelser. She performs with the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra and also serves as the KSO general manager. She and her husband live in DeKalb where they are raising their two children, both of whom study music.