The Student Mentor Program is a tutoring service made available to all enrolled students. Through the years, we had received feedback from parents unsure of how to help their students practice throughout the week. This program is a solution to that problem. Each session is a touch point in between weekly lessons for students to be able to ask questions, seek help, and receive input from another violinist. In addition, all tutors are advanced students at the studio and are hand selected for their roles! This element is a standout factor as it introduces another positive musical influence into their lives, all while providing a shared student-to-student connection. We soft-launched this program in 2019 and received GREAT feedback from parents, which is why we are so excited to be officially launching this program, making it available to all of our students! If you’d like to enroll in this program, please send us a message.
spark interest
grow skillset
help others
repeat.
MEET THE TEAM
KAITLYN TOZZI
Program Coordinator • SOPHOMORE | UNC
I have been playing the violin for ten years, and was a member of the Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestra before attending UNC. I absolutely love helping students further their goals on the violin, and I try to create a fun and enjoyable learning environment for each and every student I have the opportunity to work with! Outside of tutoring, I play competitive tennis and enjoy spending time with friends and family.
JAKE PECORARO
FRESHMAN | LNC
I began studying the violin at age 7, and currently play for the Cornelius Youth Orchestra as well as the Charlotte Symphony Youth Philharmonic. I love getting to connect with my students to make learning the violin a fun experience. I really enjoy teaching! In my free time, I also enjoy fishing and skateboarding.
MARIE ALBRITTON
JUNIOR | NWSA
I started playing the violin in 5th grade to prepare for enrolling at Northwest School of the Arts. My sister had been an orchestra major there, so I followed her footsteps and joined the orchestra playing the violin. Throughout middle school, I had the opportunity to play in CMS Honors orchestras each year, as well as numerous music camps in NC. Since entering high school, I’ve successfully auditioned for ASTA All State, CMS Honors, CSYP, and CSYO. I love playing the violin, and it is so fun to help up-and-coming students rise through the levels I once played at!
AARON SMILJANIC
FRESHMAN | HOUGH
I started playing violin when I was 7 practicing the Suzuki method at Ithaca College in New York, when I was 9 I moved to North Carolina and had a short break between teachers, a few months later I started lessons with Amanda Gentile and eventually switched to lessons with Eric. I have been working with Eric for over 4 years and played in the Charlotte youth orchestra for 2 years during middle school. My favorite thing to do with the violin is to listen to music on the radio and then try to interpret it on my instrument.
HOW IT STARTED
In 2019, one of our students, Kaitlyn Tozzi, presented us the idea for this program as a way to give back to the local community in a special way. We loved the idea and immediately began working with Kaitlyn to coordinate tutoring for several of our up-and-coming students. The students loved their weekly tutoring sessions, and the results were undeniable. With this, we slowly started scaling up the program and began to get other student “mentors” connected with beginner students. Today, we are happy to offer this service to all of our students enrolled at the studio. Kaitlyn now serves as the program coordinator, organizing our tutors and connecting them with new students. If you’d like to sign up for this program, use the form below!