Christy WADE

The Director of NWA Suzuki School of Music and the Ozark Suzuki Institute, Mrs. Wade is an active Suzuki teacher and performer. Formerly of Joplin, MO, she studied Suzuki violin from the age of 5. She brings over 25 years of teaching experience and extensive training to Bentonville as an advocate of the Suzuki Method. Her training includes work with Suzuki Trainers such as Alice Joy Lewis, Ronda Cole, Ed Kreitman, Carol Dallinger, Cathryn Lee, Tom Wermuth, Linda Case, Barbara Barber, Susan Kempter, Teri Einfeldt, Brian Lewis, Gabe Bolkosky, and many others. She started the NWA Suzuki School of Music in January of 2013, where she maintains a high standard of excellence in private teaching, trains parents to be involved, and provides stimulating and motivation-building group classes and performance opportunities for her students. She currently teaches over 40 students and is very excited to see the Suzuki Method growing in the NWA region.

She also finds time to be a symphony and solo performer, chamber musician, and director. In 2008, she founded and directed The Youth Orchestra of the 4 States, which allowed students throughout the region to perform in a beginner-level group as well as a full concert orchestra of advanced students. She performs regularly with the Fort Smith Symphony, the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas (SoNA), the Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra. She was selected by the SAA (Suzuki Association of the Americas) to participate in the Parents as Partners program in 2015 as a contributor. Her Parent Training program is one of the reasons for the success of the Suzuki programs. Her students have taken top chairs in All-Region and All-State Orchestras for the last 5 years since moving to Arkansas. Others have won competitions and have performed with several area symphonies. She is an amazing mother to 4 children, who think that she rocks.