Dalcroze Summer Intensive 2024

Eiko Ishizuka has taught since 2002 at Winchester Community Music School, which has one of the largest Dalcroze Eurythmics programs in Massachusetts. She has earned the highest credentials in Dalcroze training including the Dalcroze Diplôme Supérieur from The Institut Jaques-Dalcroze, Geneva, Switzerland; a Certificate and License, with distinction, from the Longy School of Music of Bard College; and a Bachelor in Music from Kunitachi College of Music, Japan. Her principal teachers have included Yukiko Takeyama and Yuki Kido; improvisation technique from Laurent Sourisse and Ruth Gianadda; and Dalcroze Eurhythmics with Akihiko Mabuchi, Lisa Parker and Ann Faber.

Currently, Ms. Ishizuka is a faculty member of Longy School of Music of Bard College and Winchester Community Music School and has an extensive range of students in her studio. She is the director of the Dalcroze Summer Institute at Longy and program coordinator for WCMS’s Professional Dalcroze Certification program.

Starting at age 12, she served as a church pianist/organist at the Bethlehem Congregation of Jesus Church in Japan, and performed on a national tour with the choir. She relocated to North America in 1999 and has performed in Japan, Israel, the United States, Canada, and Switzerland. She has also been a member of the group “Music Alive” with which she performed in the Boston area. She is passionate about bringing “music and movement” to audiences through her concert repertoire. 

Brazilian pianist Arthur Simoes enjoys a diverse career as a pianist, composer, and educator. He has performed extensively in Europe, the United States, and Latin America, where he has presented lectures, workshops, and masterclasses. Passionate about education, Arthur has taught at the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze as well as the Haute Ecole de Musique in Geneva, Switzerland. In parallel, he has run a successful private studio for the last 10 years. Arthur is a first prize winner of the 29th European Music Competition “Città di Moncalieri”, in Italy, as well as other piano competitions. His performance credits include the Victoria Hall (Geneva) as well as the Schubertiade sur la Colline (Neuchâtel). He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Piano and a Master’s degree in Music Pedagogy – Dalcroze Eurhythmics from the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève, as well as the Diplôme Supérieur of the Dalcroze method. During his Dalcroze studies, Arthur was awarded the Institut-Jaques Dalcroze Award “for his qualities as eurhythmician”, the Emile Jaques-Dalcroze Foundation Award “for the excellence of his improvisation exam” and the Aletheia Foundation Award “for the excellence of his Diplôme Supérieur choreography”. His passion for improvisation as well as the desire to broaden his horizons have brought Arthur to Berklee College of Music, where he is currently pursuing a Diploma with concentrations in Jazz Composition and Performance.

B.A. summa cum laude, Macalester College; Dalcroze Certificate and License, Longy School of Music; studies with Lisa Parker and Anne Farber; Dalcroze School of Music with Hilda Schuster; Columbia University with Robert Abramson; Carnegie-Mellon Institute with Marta Sanchez. Modern Dance Training with Orff Schulwerk; piano pedagogy with Jean Stackhouse. Grant recipient for music composition for theater. Faculty: Longy, Tanglewood Music Center, U/Massachusetts-Lowell.

In love with movement arts, Ms. Ausch found in Dalcroze Eurhythmics the space in which she could express her Renaissance approach to all Arts. She received her Master’s Degree in Dalcroze Eurhythmics and the Dalcroze License at Longy School of Music.

In her native country, Romania, Ms. Ausch studied classical piano at the Tg.- Mures Conservatory, earned her Master’s Degree in Architecture and City Planning in Bucharest and parallel with her architectural and stage design career, she became an across-style singer and songwriter. She appeared on television and radio shows, toured Romania, and released a CD in Germany, where she lived before moving to Boston. She holds several performance awards as a singer-songwriter and belonged to the Romanian protest song and folk movement in communist times, when music seemed to be one way to protest against the status quo.

For the last ten years, Ms. Ausch has performed in the Boston area primarily as a solo singer, focusing on twentieth-century art song, and appeared with the cabaret group Follen Angels and the vocal group, Pandora’s Vox.

Over the past several years, Ms. Ausch has been invited back to Romania and Germany to participate in different festivals and appeared in self-produced and directed recitals under the title “Outsider” and “Imagine,” collage-like shows around a theme bringing together different musical styles, languages, and moods. She plans to expand her performing activities in Boston and overseas, pursuing the idea of intimately designed, eclectic musical shows.

Melissa is an inspiring and committed Dalcroze music educator who specializes in eurhythmics and improvisation. Dalcroze is at the heart of everything she does as a music professional.  She finds the unique combination of movement, improvisation, dynamic social interaction, and deep study of music to be ingenious and exhilarating. She has taught Dalcroze workshops and classes throughout New England including The Boston Symphony Outreach program, New England Conservatory, Boston Conservatory, Emmanuel Church, Community MusicWorks in Providence, Rhode Island, and The University of Connecticut. In addition to her teaching at Longy, she is also currently on the piano faculty of Concord Conservatory.

Ms. Tucker currently serves on the Dalcroze Society of America’s Professional Development Committee and has served as Co-Chair of Longy’s Dalcroze Department. Melissa has published articles on improvisation and Dalcroze Pedagogy in Dalcroze Connections and The American Dalcroze Journal. She was also a founding member of Music Alive, a performing ensemble which created original, interactive, musical shows for children. Most recently, Melissa is bringing her love of music and movement, as well as her knowledge of Dalcroze Eurhythmics, to patients with dementia.

An Oberlin graduate, Melissa earned her Dalcroze Certificate and License from Longy with Lisa Parker and Anne Farber. She studied classical piano with Lydia Frumkin at Oberlin Conservatory and Natasha Chances at Bates College. She was also honored to be a jazz piano student of the late, great, Charlie Banacos. Currently, she is delighted to be continuing her jazz work with Brian Friedland.  She also continues to deepen her connection to movement and dance at Ipswich Moving Company with choreographer and artistic director, Janet Craft.