Teacher Profile: Kay Nakazawa

About Kay Nakazawa

Kay Nakazawa is a Washington, D.C. based Violin Instructor and Performer. She also teaches Piano.

From an early age, Kay began her violin studies at the Music Institute of Chicago. She studied with Kyung Yu during her undergraduate years at Yale, performed at Carnegie Hall and on tour in Russia as a member of the Yale Symphony Orchestra, and studied with Ian Swensen at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she earned her master’s degree in violin performance.

Though primarily a classical musician herself, Kay enjoys a broad range of styles and works with her students to cultivate a technical foundation that will allow them to express themselves in any genre. As a teacher, she finds it rewarding when her students have an “aha!” moment of insight, and she provides the encouragement and detailed guidance needed to help them make meaningful progress. Ultimately, her goal as a teacher is to help her students develop an ease with the instrument that will offer them a lifelong enjoyment of music and playing.