About Patty

Patty Waxman started playing violin at the age of 8.  By the time she was in junior high school, she knew she wanted to major in violin performance and become a musician.  As a result, Patty continued her studies by taking private lessons with the highly respected and renowned violin pedagogue, Dennis Bourret.  She  played in Tucson Junior Strings, participated in Tucson Philharmonia Youth Orchestra and through auditions, was accepted into Arizona Regional and All State Orchestras all four years of her high school career.  She also went to camp in the summers to study chamber music.

After Patty graduated from high school, she began the audition process for music schools.  Once the process was completed, Patty finally concluded that the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) would be the best choice for her.  So, when fall came, she packed up her bags and violin and headed off to Ohio.

While studying music at CIM, Patty gained a vast amount of knowledge regarding music and how to play the violin.  Her college experience was very intense and although it had it’s enjoyable moments and not so enjoyable moments, it did serve to create a life altering experience.

When Patty was a junior at CIM, she met a music therapist who worked in a hospital setting with adults and children who were terminally ill.  Music therapy was foreign to Patty, but once she witnessed the profound changes music made on the hospitalized individuals, she was hooked on the idea of becoming a music therapist.

Once Patty graduated from CIM, she went to Michigan State University to study music therapy.  While attending school at Michigan State, she also played in their school orchestra, became involved with teaching private lessons to children in the Michigan State Preparatory School and lead Suzuki based violin group classes. During this time, Patty participated in a few teacher training classes, which helped enhance her teaching technique.  She also played in orchestras around the state of Michigan.

When the music therapy courses were completed, Patty had a second degree and began working with kids who had special needs in the Phoenix Metropolitan area.
She worked as a music therapist for about 7 years before taking time off in order to immerse herself into the raising of her four children.  After a few short years, Patty returned to teaching violin to children and adults with an extensive and growing teaching studio. She also started to perform professionally again and joined the West Valley Symphony, the Phoenix Opera Orchestra, and the Musica Nova Symphony. Patty is frequently engaged to perform for church services for many different denominations.  She is also in demand to perform at weddings as part of string quartets, trios and just about any combination of musical instruments.  This has allowed Patty to participate in a rewarding performing career while at the same time continuing to work with children and adults in a variety of teaching settings in the service of music and sharing her love of the violin.

Today, Patty continues to raise her four children ages 10, 9, 8, and 5.  She stays involved with the above mentioned orchestras and finds playing around the valley for a variety of events exciting and personally enjoyable.  Patty currently has 20 private violin students and always has room to expand her studio.  Playing and teaching violin is a very important part of her life and she feels very fortunate to be able to share her skills with others who are interested in learning how to play the violin and learn about themselves through musical experiences.