Teacher Profile: Samantha Tippen

About Samantha Tippen

Samantha Tippen is a viola and violin specialist who instructs all ages from elementary through adult in the D.C. area. She also teaches cello, piano, and voice. Throughout her life, Samantha has fallen in love with music and has learned to appreciate every opportunity to evolve not only herself, but also students into being better versions of themselves through music.

At the age of 7, Samantha started her journey by learning the viola through a school program. That summer, she was enrolled in private lessons to help her passion and curiosity of music grow. She grew up with amazing and supportive teachers through different programs such as Hartford Youth Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestra, and Peabody Performance Academy. Samantha was awarded a Performance Award from the Performance Academy after her beautiful rendition of Bruch’s Romance with the Hartford Youth Orchestra. Samantha was fortunate to be invited and participate in multiple competitive summer music festivals including Brevard Music Center and Snowpond Music Festival. During the summer of 2014, she performed Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro on NPR’s broadcast of ‘From the Top.’ Samantha sat as principal violist in multiple orchestras over the years, including Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestra, and Shenandoah Conservatory Symphony Orchestra. She has gone on multiple international tours including places like Canada and Argentina. All of these experiences really drove Samantha to pursuing her music and helping her community.

By the time Samantha was in middle school, she started exploring the violin as well. She wanted to learn violin because she was curious about the contrasting tone between that and the viola. After a few lessons, she was hooked. Because viola was her first passion, she treated this love as enjoyment with music. Her family believes in giving back to the community, which only furthered her career on the violin as she played with her church ensemble. She loved to experiment and learn all of the different sounds while playing alongside others. Samantha constantly played chamber music with her mother on cello and her sister on viola, which gave her a better understanding of how in-depth a lot of pieces are. She currently performs violin as a session musician with multiple groups including the Logan Smith Band, Oceanline, and Chasing Autumn.

Samantha was fortunate to study with extremely encouraging teachers throughout the years. She was able to perform in the Performance Academy of Peabody Pre- Conservatory, and complete her Bachelors in Music at Shenandoah Conservatory with their guidance. Her first teacher was Dr. Courtney Boyd, who she studied under throughout middle school and really taught her discipline in her practice. Louise Hildreth- Grasso taught Samantha through high school at Peabody Prep. Mrs. Hildreth- Grasso drove Samantha to constantly be aware of different aspects of her music and guided her through preparing for Conservatory. Samantha was blessed further with the opportunity to study under world renowned violist Doris Lederer of the Audubon Quartet. Throughout her undergraduate program, Professor Lederer instilled the love and curiosity for performance in Samantha. At her senior recital, Samantha performed the John William Viola Concerto. Samantha’s biggest influencers and supporters were her parents, who constantly pushed her to go for her passion and to pursue her musical goals.

Samantha enjoys teaching all ages and abilities. She believes in a healthy balance of technique work, scholarly pieces, and explorative pieces. Her goal is to instill passion and kindness through instrumental study and to help students reach their true potential. Although she primarily teaches classical, she also branches out into jazz and contemporary works, as they are extremely musically rewarding. She loves inspiring and encouraging students as they grow with their music. Samantha believes it is the responsibility of the teacher to work tirelessly to ensure the love of music is instilled in students of all ages.