Dr. Vanessa Mio is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor within the Faculty of Education and the Music Education (Continuing Education) departments at the University of Windsor. She is also the Director of the Windsor String Academy and Windsor String Project programs in Windsor, Ontario, Canada and a violinist with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra. Vanessa completed a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Studies degree (with a focus on violin pedagogy) from the University of Windsor. Vanessa also earned a Master of Music, a Bachelor of Music, and a Performance Diploma in Violin Performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where she studied violin with Mimi Zweig, Kathleen Winkler, Baroque violin with Stanley Ritchie, and string pedagogy with Mimi Zweig and Dr. Brenda Brenner. Vanessa’s passion for teaching was sparked at Indiana University where she was appointed as an Associate Instructor with the Indiana University String Academy from 2005-2008. Vanessa established the first Canadian model of this preuniversity program at Wilfrid Laurier University, in addition to a unique string pedagogy course for postsecondary performance and music education students at both Wilfrid Laurier University and Western University. She has pursued a variety of professional development opportunities and has become a sought-after clinician, teacher, and adjudicator. Vanessa is a String Examiner for The Royal Conservatory of Music, College of Examiners, and has traveled extensively throughout North America as an Ambassador for the Certificate Program. She has also adjudicated many festivals across Canada, including the upper string division of the Ontario Music Festivals Association Provincial Competition in May of 2017. Vanessa has taught at the Nova Scotia Suzuki Violin Institute in Halifax, NS, attended the Starling-DeLay Symposium for Violin Studies at The Juilliard School, participated in a workshop led by Brian Lewis at the Southwestern Ontario Suzuki Institute, and attended a Retreat for Violin and Viola Teachers at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Vanessa has spent summers touring with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada; participating in the Casalmaggiore International Festival in Italy; teaching in Tuscany for a Professional Teachers Workshop alongside Mimi Zweig; and studying at the Banff Centre for the Arts with the Très Chic Piano Trio (Chamber Music Residency for Pre-Formed Ensembles).
