Julia Andreini
Julia began her violin studies at the age of 5. When her parents suggested she learn how to play piano first, she is told she started sobbing and said, “but I want to play the violin!” There was no further discussion of piano. She regretted this only when she had to take group piano in college.
She started with the Suzuki method and continued with the program through high school, eventually minoring in music at UNI. Julia has played with the Waterloo Cedar Falls Symphony since 2008, and has also played with the Wartburg Community Symphony, Met Chorale, Theatre UNI, and the Waterloo Community Playhouse. One of her favorite performances was playing for indie/psychedelic artist Kishi Bashi. She has also recently started playing alongside her saxophonist father and percussionist husband in the Rosewood Novelty Trio playing jazz and ragtime tunes.
In addition to performing, Julia is also the Music Specialist at New Aldaya Lifescapes in Cedar Falls. Her work there ranges from creating educational programs for senior residents to serving as a human jukebox taking any and all requests while going room to room playing for residents.
Julia is also an experienced yoga teacher having taught private sessions, classes, and workshops locally and throughout the state for the past 10 years. In her spare time Julia enjoys traveling, pursuing active endeavors outside, snuggling with her cats, and spending time with her husband Matt.
Julia plays on a violin crafted by her late grandfather, John Abbott. Ask her to see the detail on her violin scroll the next time you see her!
Robert Espe
Robert Espe began studying violin at the UNI Suzuki School at the age of three. He attended University of Northern Iowa on a Presidential Scholarship, as well as violin and saxophone scholarships, eventually earning a B.S. in Bioinformatics with Honors, with a minor in Music. While attending UNI, he was concertmaster of the UNI Symphony Orchestra, lead alto and lead tenor of UNI Jazz Band One, and performed with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, of which he is still a member. He was also a founding member of the Cedar Falls-based progressive rock/funk/jazz group Lick It Ticket. He currently resides in Des Moines, Iowa, where he performs full-time with the Des Moines Symphony, as well as with the Des Moines Chamber Ensemble, Canby, Choro Moingona, The TTP Project, and the Turner Center Jazz Orchestra. His professional pedigree also includes pit orchestra work with Theatre Cedar Rapids, Theatre UNI, and Jim McDonough's Holiday Grande. He has made countless appearances as a musical gun-for-hire with dozens of bands and ensembles, most notably as a regular on-call saxophonist with the Colorado-based high-energy funk/worldbeat collective Eufòrquestra, and has performed live with other world-class artists such as Katy Perry and The Temptations.
Cara Lockard
Cara Lockard, owner and coordinator of Cedar Valley Strings, began her early violin studies at the age of three as a UNI Suzuki student in Cedar Falls, IA. She received a Bachelor of the Arts degree with a violin emphasis in 2008 from the University of Northern Iowa under the direction of Professor Frederick Halgedahl, and she has received extensive Suzuki teacher-training through Suzuki violin book 6.
About Cara: *Suzuki-based violin instructor, running a small violin studio of various ages in Waterloo *first violinist with the Waterloo Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra of which she has been a member since 2002 *past musician with Cedar Rapids' Orchestra Iowa, the Des Moines Symphony, the Dubuque Symphony, and the Wartburg Community Symphony *fiddle player for local country-music band Dry Run Creek *worship team violinist at Prairie Lakes Church and Nazareth Lutheran Church in Cedar Falls
Mrs. Lockard has been actively coordinating the musical aspect of weddings and other events since 2002 when she was first asked to put together a group of string musicians as a junior in high school. Since then, Cara has organized and taken part in well over 300 special events in northeast Iowa and the surrounding states.
Cara married her husband Scott in July 2016, and they, along with their children, make up a blended family of seven: Chloe (17), Sadie (15), Josh (14), Emma (6), and Eden (4)... plus their cat Casper. Cara also enjoys creating crock-pot recipes from scratch, cross-stitching, shopping at Target and Hobby Lobby, and is a chronic TV series re-watcher (especially FRIENDS, The Office, Schitt's Creek, and New Girl). She loves animals, pumpkin-scented candles, and margaritas, and she has a fascination with forensics and fully believes that Heinz ketchup is the ONLY acceptable brand.
Bethany Washington
Bethany earned a Master of Music in violin performance from University of Northern Iowa, where she held a graduate assistantship, and a Bachelor of Music in violin performance with a Certificate in Music Composition from the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University, where she graduated summa cum laude and received an Excellence in Music award. Her past teachers include Steve Koh, Ross Winter, Amy Schwartz-Moretti, David Kim, David Halen, Robert McDuffie, Samantha George, Benjamin Sung, and Julia Bullard (viola).
Bethany began playing the violin at the age of four through the Suzuki method. She has completed Suzuki training and teaches violin and viola in the University of Northern Iowa Suzuki School. She also serves as Adjunct Upper Strings Professor at Wartburg University, where she performs as concertmaster of the Wartburg Community Symphony Orchestra.
Bethany lives in Cedar Falls, IA, with her husband, composer Denzel Washington and sons Leondre and Darian.
Todd Williams
Todd Williams began his musical studies as a Suzuki student and went on to earn a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Minnesota in Violin Performance. There, he also underwent Suzuki teacher training including an internship at the Suzuki program at the McPhail Center for the Arts in Minneapolis. Before joining the UNI Suzuki School in 2003, he was a faculty member at the St. Paul Conservatory and taught Suzuki classes at the ABC International Montessori School in Bloomington, MN. He is a longtime member of the WCFsymphony and was previously the concertmaster of the Wartburg Community Symphony orchestra.
Todd currently resides in Waterloo with his wife Erin and their adorable pets.