Dr. Penny Thompson Kruse began violin studies at age 5 in Parsons, Kansas, in the public-school Suzuki program, one of the first such programs in the country. She went on to an illustrious career as a symphony musician, playing for five years in the Kansas City Symphony, and as a college professor, serving 23 years on the faculty of Bowling Green State University College of Musical Arts in Ohio along with performing and teaching for 20 years at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. Performances, master classes, and professional society presentations have taken Penny throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Asia.

From her experience teaching students on all levels, Penny realized that her students lacked the time to practice hours every day. She and husband Steve developed a series of studies entitled "I Hate to Practice” creating short cuts to develop required technical skills in the least amount of time.

Natalie Brejcha is a string player dedicated to teaching and sharing music of all styles and cultures. She currently teaches both classical and folk music to both children and adults, and loves arranging simple folk tunes into bigger performance pieces with whatever instrumentation or level is needed, and for whomever joins the group. Natalie is a professional violist, violinist and mandolinist and has worked as a freelance musician in Los Angeles, CA for the last 25 years. She is also on the faculty of the Pasadena Conservatory of Music and the Los Angeles Suzuki Institute. Natalie holds both BM and MFA degrees in music. More on Natalie here at her website www.nataliebrejcha.com