Samantha Hiller Drake

Samantha Hiller Drake began her violin studies at age four in the Rosove Suzuki Violin Program in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She earned a BM in Violin Performance from The University of Iowa and an MM in Violin Performance with an emphasis in Suzuki Pedagogy from The Hartt School. She studied violin with Scott Conklin, Samantha George, and Anton Miller, and chamber music with Astrid Schween and Elizabeth Oakes. In addition to her long-term Suzuki teacher training with Teri Einfeldt at Hartt, Samantha has completed courses with Christie Felsing, Ronda Cole, Alice Joy Lewis, and Mark Bjork. In the summer months, Samantha has served on the faculty at Interlochen Arts Camp, the Intermountain Suzuki String Institute, the Ithaca Suzuki Institute, and the Hartt Suzuki Institute. Samantha maintains an active performance schedule as an orchestral and chamber musician, and has performed regularly with the Hartford Symphony, the Quad Cities Symphony, and the Southeast Iowa Symphony. Samantha teaches on the Suzuki faculty and is the chair of the string department at the Hartt School Community Division in West Hartford, Connecticut, where she lives with her husband Emmett, daughter Clara, and their yellow lab, Ellie.