Alex Chambers-Ozasky

I earned my Master’s in cello performance at the University of Wisconsin- Madison with professor Uri Vardi, where I served as cellist of the Hunt String Quartet through the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Mead Witter School of Music. With the quartet, I gave dozens of elementary school outreach concerts each year through the MSO’s Up Close and Musical program, and performed regularly in the Madison area. I am currently the assistant principal cellist of the LaCrosse Symphony Orchestra, and an associate member with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. I have also performed regularly with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and the Wisconsin Philharmonic. I am a 2017 graduate of the DePaul University School of Music in Chicago, where I studied cello performance with Stephen Balderston.

While I have two performance degrees, teaching has been a significant part of my career so far. I have taught and coached young cellists through MacPhail Center for Music and International Cello Institute in Minnesota. While living in Chicago, I was the cello teacher at Lane Tech College Prep school, where I had a studio of 13 high school students. This year, I started teaching cello and conducting a string ensemble at EAGLE school in Fitchburg, WI. Part of my duties through the Hunt Quartet involved leading cello sectionals at UW, and a number of these university students contacted me for private instruction as well. I absolutely love teaching and welcome all experience levels! 

I find teaching to be one of the most fulfilling aspects of my life as a musician. I believe in a holistic approach to teaching, which involves getting to know each of my students personally. There is no "one size fits all" when it comes to teaching. Everyone possesses a unique set of strengths, and faces a unique set of challenges. In my experience, this leads to a more satisfying and effective lesson experience for myself and my students. Learning to play the cello is as much mental as it is kinesthetic.  I provide students not only with the fundamental technical instruction for playing the cello, but also with techniques for visualization, creativity, and imagination in the practice room and on stage.