ABOUT MS. ARIA HARTLEY

Aria Hartley is a fourth generation music educator who started Suzuki violin lessons at the age of two with her grandmother, Sonnhild F. Kitts, a Suzuki violin teacher who studied with Dr. Suzuki in the 1970s. Aria has a Master of Music degree in Suzuki Pedagogy from Northern Arizona University where she received her Long-Term Suzuki Training in Books 1-10 with Dr. Louise Scott. Additionally, Aria completed Unit 1 and 2 Teacher Training in Music Mind Games with Michiko Yurko, holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from the University of Florida and is a liscened Music Together director in Bend, Oregon.
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Aria played with the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra from 2009-2015 and now performs with the Central Oregon Symphony, Bend Chamber Orchestra and Bend Opera Orchestra as well as the Central Oregon Mastersingers. Within the public and private school settings she taught Pre-K through 6th grade general music and choir classes and 6th-12th grade string orchestra in Florida, Arizona and Oregon. She has over 22 years of experience teaching Suzuki violin group and individual lessons and over ten years teaching in the classroom. 

Aria currently lives in Bend, Oregon with her husband, son and two dogs where she owns and operates Generation IV Strings, a small community music school offering a Suzuki Violin program and Music Together classes to children 0-5 years of age. She recently joined the board of the Central Oregon Youth Orchestra and looks forward to giving back to the Central Oregon Community. In the summers, she enjoys being apart of the faculty at the Intermountain Suzuki String Institute and Oregon Suzuki Institute.