Teacher Profile: Gloria Shadel
About Gloria Shadel
Gloria Burca was born and raised in Chicago and moved to Dallas in 2026. She has been teaching private one-on-one music lessons since 2008, working with students ranging from age 2 through adulthood. Gloria teaches violin, viola, cello, piano, and ukulele, and has extensive experience hosting annual recitals and preparing students for competitions.
Her teaching approach emphasizes all styles of music, music theory, improvisation, diverse genres, and composition. During her undergraduate studies, Gloria studied the Alexander Technique and incorporates its principles of relaxation and natural movement into every lesson. Her goal with each student is to foster a lasting love of music while helping them discover the styles and musical paths that resonate most with them.
Gloria began playing the violin at age 7 and added viola studies at age 15. Over the years, she has participated in numerous prestigious music programs, including the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, Music Institute of Chicago Academy, Chicago Youth Music Festival Orchestra, and the Bowdoin International Music Festival.
She has studied with renowned musicians including Cyrus Forough, Alias and Roxanna Goldstein, SangMee Lee, Desiree Ruhstrat, and Stephen Wyrczynski. In the summer of 2012, Gloria toured throughout Europe with orchestras, performing a variety of musical styles. At age 17, she won the DePaul Concerto Competition and made her debut with the DePaul Symphony Orchestra.
Gloria is a graduate of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where she studied Viola/Violin Performance and Pedagogy.
From 2018–2022, Gloria served as an instructor at Logos Christian Academy, where she taught high school music theory classes and directed elementary choir and string ensembles. She also worked as an instructor with Veritas Music & Learning Center and Classic Violins Music Shop in Chicago.
Today, Gloria continues to perform with orchestras throughout the Dallas–Fort Worth area, as well as at private events, farmers markets, food truck festivals, and a variety of community performances.