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Elayne Ras began Suzuki violin lessons at the age of 11 at the first Suzuki school in Toronto, studying with Erica Davidson and Hazel Comer. During high school, she was an accompanist for many Suzuki classes, and achieved her Grade 9 piano, and Grade 10 violin certificates with the Royal Conservatory of Music. She received her Honours Bachelor in Music Performance (studying with Lorand Fenyves) & her BA in Psychology from the University of Western Ontario and was certified as a Suzuki teacher trainer in 2002. Elayne has worked with many wonderful Suzuki teachers while pursuing teacher training, including Alice Joy Lewis, John Kendall, Margery Aber, Nancy Lokken, Becky Sandrok, and Brian Lewis,
 
Elayne has been a clinician for numerous Suzuki workshops and institutes in Canada and the US, has adjudicated at music festivals around Ontario, and served 10 years on the board of the SAO, including a term as Chair.
*Conducted a community Band of all ages in Goderich for 19 years
*Currently a faculty member of the Suzuki String School of Guelph
*played with Stratford Symphony under conductor Jerry Summers for 5 years
*currently performs regularly with the Guelph Symphony, and occasionally with the Cambridge Symphony
*was invited to tour China with the Ontario Festival Symphony Orchestra, under conductor Jerry Summers, Dec/Jan, 2011/12, performing 6 concerts in 7 different cities
*Currently the Director of Violin/Viola programming at the Southwestern Ontario Suzuki Institute in Waterloo each August.