 |
 |
Rebecca Markowski, a registered Suzuki Instructor, is the founder & executive director of JSI. She teaches violin,
viola, and cello. Rebecca was born and raised in the St. Louis, Missouri area. She graduated from McCluer North Senior
High School in 1976. While in St. Louis she played in several orchestras including the St. Louis Symphony Youth
Orchestra (under Leonard Slatkin), the St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Gallant Chamber Ensemble. She
graduated from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns-Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland with a Bachelor
of Music in Violin Performance in 1980. She married Paul Markowski in 1981 and they moved to Mount Vernon,
Illinois where she started teaching private lessons. Eventually, Rebecca went back to college and in 1997 she graduated
from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville earning a Master of Music Performance with emphasis on Suzuki
pedagogy. In August of that same year she was hired by Arkansas State University in Jonesboro as their string
instructor in the music department. While there she also established the Jonesboro Suzuki Institute. Over her career
she has played in several ensembles including The Peabody Symphony Orchestra, The Paducah Symphony, The
Illinois Symphony, and the ASU Concert Orchestra as well as many musical and opera orchestras and chamber groups.
She is currently a member of the Delta Symphony Orchestra and the Delta String Quartet. Besides her husband, Paul,
she also lives with her daughter, Anna, and their seven cats, Cloudy, Cirrus, Tribble, Bastet, Kirin, Loki, and Sin.
viola, and cello. Rebecca was born and raised in the St. Louis, Missouri area. She graduated from McCluer North Senior
High School in 1976. While in St. Louis she played in several orchestras including the St. Louis Symphony Youth
Orchestra (under Leonard Slatkin), the St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Gallant Chamber Ensemble. She
graduated from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns-Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland with a Bachelor
of Music in Violin Performance in 1980. She married Paul Markowski in 1981 and they moved to Mount Vernon,
Illinois where she started teaching private lessons. Eventually, Rebecca went back to college and in 1997 she graduated
from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville earning a Master of Music Performance with emphasis on Suzuki
pedagogy. In August of that same year she was hired by Arkansas State University in Jonesboro as their string
instructor in the music department. While there she also established the Jonesboro Suzuki Institute. Over her career
she has played in several ensembles including The Peabody Symphony Orchestra, The Paducah Symphony, The
Illinois Symphony, and the ASU Concert Orchestra as well as many musical and opera orchestras and chamber groups.
She is currently a member of the Delta Symphony Orchestra and the Delta String Quartet. Besides her husband, Paul,
she also lives with her daughter, Anna, and their seven cats, Cloudy, Cirrus, Tribble, Bastet, Kirin, Loki, and Sin.
| Paul Markowski, is the business manager/secertary/gofer/janitor/instrument repairman, etc. for JSI. He sometimes teaches viola group lessons. A native of the St. Louis, Misouri area, he graduated from McCluer Senior High School in 1972. In the fall of that same year he started college at the Florissant Valley Community College as a music education major. While playing in the pit orchestra for a production of "The Merry Widow" at Flo Valley he met his future wife, Rebecca. After three years at Florissant Valley, he finally decided that music education was not for him (he really wanted to be a composer). So he went to the Control Data Institute and became a computer programmer?! He programmed computers for various companies in the St. Louis, Missouri and Mt. Vernon, Illinois areas. His wife, Rebecca, was hired by ASU and moved to Jonesboro, Arkansas in 1997. Paul remained in St. Louis for nine more months until their daughter, Anna, finished the first grade. Then Paul and Anna joined Rebecca in Jonesboro. Paul continued to program computers until 2001 when he was laid off from his job. He went back to college at ASU as a music composition major (studying composition with Dr. Timothy Crist). Besides writing and arranging music, Paul plays viola in the ASU Concert Orchestra, The Delta Symphony orchestra, and the Delta String Quartet. He is also a reasonably accomplished gourmet cook. |
| A graduate of Arkansas State University, Roby Johnson, has taught violin with JSI for one year. He is also the conductor of the JSI String Orchestra. [more to come] |
| About JSI |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
provide private and group instruction in violin, viola, and cello to Jonesboro and the surrounding
communities of northeast Arkansas and southeast Missouri. We were located in the Arkansas State
University Fine Arts building from 1997 until June of 2005. We moved into a temporary location at
500 W. Washington. Then in June of 2006 we moved to our new location. Dubbed the JSI String
House, it is located at 314 W. Monroe in Jonesboro. Over the years we have grown from one
teacher and a handful of students to five teachers and about 50 students.
communities of northeast Arkansas and southeast Missouri. We were located in the Arkansas State
University Fine Arts building from 1997 until June of 2005. We moved into a temporary location at
500 W. Washington. Then in June of 2006 we moved to our new location. Dubbed the JSI String
House, it is located at 314 W. Monroe in Jonesboro. Over the years we have grown from one
teacher and a handful of students to five teachers and about 50 students.
| Where Minds Grow In Musical Ways |
Hi! I am Hope Smith, Registered Suzuki Instructor in pre-twinkle and book 1 with JSI. I started studying Suzuki
violin in the North Suburban Special Education District in the north suburbs of Chicago, IL at the tender age of six. I
continued my studies after moving to Arkansas in 1978 with the Suzuki Music School of Arkansas in Fayetteville,
AR and then in private study with Dr. Richard Fuchs who was on the music faculty with the University of Arkansas.
While in High School, I enjoyed the honor of participating in the Arkansas All State Symphony Orchestra in 1983 and
1984. After Graduation from Fayetteville High School in 1985, I auditioned and was chosen to participate in the
Music Festival of Arkansas, where I participated during the summers of 1985-1987 under the direction of Carlton
Woods. It was during one of that festival summer’s that I had the honor of meeting and playing under the direction of
Margaret Hillis, founder and conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. I Majored in Music Education with an
emphasis in Music Therapy at Phillips University in Enid, OK, where I earned my Bachelor's Degree in 1993. During
my college years I was principle second violinist with the Enid-Phillips Symphony Orchestra under the Direction of
Douglas Newell. Now I reside with my husband Greg in Jonesboro, AR where I study violin with Rebecca
Markowski, JSI Executive Director, and play with the ASU symphony orchestra, enjoy membership with the Treble
Clef Club, and attend church at St. Mark's Episcopal Church. We have one dog, a Labrador-greyhound mix, named
Shae.
violin in the North Suburban Special Education District in the north suburbs of Chicago, IL at the tender age of six. I
continued my studies after moving to Arkansas in 1978 with the Suzuki Music School of Arkansas in Fayetteville,
AR and then in private study with Dr. Richard Fuchs who was on the music faculty with the University of Arkansas.
While in High School, I enjoyed the honor of participating in the Arkansas All State Symphony Orchestra in 1983 and
1984. After Graduation from Fayetteville High School in 1985, I auditioned and was chosen to participate in the
Music Festival of Arkansas, where I participated during the summers of 1985-1987 under the direction of Carlton
Woods. It was during one of that festival summer’s that I had the honor of meeting and playing under the direction of
Margaret Hillis, founder and conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. I Majored in Music Education with an
emphasis in Music Therapy at Phillips University in Enid, OK, where I earned my Bachelor's Degree in 1993. During
my college years I was principle second violinist with the Enid-Phillips Symphony Orchestra under the Direction of
Douglas Newell. Now I reside with my husband Greg in Jonesboro, AR where I study violin with Rebecca
Markowski, JSI Executive Director, and play with the ASU symphony orchestra, enjoy membership with the Treble
Clef Club, and attend church at St. Mark's Episcopal Church. We have one dog, a Labrador-greyhound mix, named
Shae.
