Meet Teacher Marilee - violin/Fiddle

Marilee is a violinist and fiddler and is excited to join the Mosaic family! Marilee was born and raised in the Bay Area. In her youth she held principal chairs in the San Francisco Youth Symphony, the Oakland Youth Orchestra and the Diablo Youth Orchestra. Her successful classical career also included performing much of the standard solo repertoire and many chamber ensembles.

Throughout her career Marilee has had the good sense and fortune to study individually with world renowned teachers Zoya Lebin (SF), Julie Lieberman (NYC), and Hollis Taylor (Portland, Oregon).

In 1994, Marilee moved to Portland and rapidly became one of the most sought after side-people in recent memory playing on over 100 recordings and joining the ranks of many popular local bands including Golden Delicious, Fernando, Little Sue, Jim Boyer, Casey Neill and James Low which had her touring across the US and Europe.

She began teaching in 1998, first at Artichoke Music (Hawthorne) and later as a longtime instructor at Starfish Studios (Hawthorne). Marilee is an enthusiastic, nurturing and dedicated teacher, particularly interested in providing a solid musical and technical foundation for her students, instilling confidence and agency. She has guided hundreds of children and adults alike on their own individual journey, be it preparing for fiddle contests, orchestra auditions, playing in a band or on the front porch. Currently a member of long running Western Swing heroes Shorty and the Mustangs she is also well versed in Irish, Scottish and Cape Breton fiddle tunes.

When not musically engaged she can usually be found in the kitchen making something that almost certainly contains cheese.