Originally from Connecticut, Bailey has been teaching since 2009. Her teaching experience includes the general music classroom, school orchestra programs, private studio teaching, and Suzuki pedagogy. She is a current member of the Suzuki Association. Bailey holds a Bachelor’s of Music in both viola performance and music education from Lawrence University and a Master’s of Music in viola performance with an emphasis in Suzuki pedagogy from the Hartt School. Her long-term Suzuki violin training was completed under the guidance of Christie Felsing and Teri Einfeldt. She also has received Suzuki Early Childhood training from Sharon Jones.
As an educator, Bailey has adopted the mantra of one of her mentors, Leila Pertl: “Music is a birthright.” She is passionate in bringing high-quality, globally aware teaching to all her students. Music is something that everyone has the ability and right to explore. Bailey explored the connection between culture and the application of the Suzuki philosophy in 2015 when she won the Mellon Grant; she collaborated with Suzuki teachers in both Ireland and Argentina to examine how traditional music in each location impacted and interacted with the application of Suzuki pedagogy. In addition to her classroom and studio teaching, Bailey has been invited to give masterclasses throughout Connecticut and served on faculty at the Nutmeg Fiddle Workshop.
As a performer, Bailey is passionate about non-classical genres like Americana and a variety of fiddle styles. She has collaborated and been coached by multi-styled musicians like jazz violinist Zach Brock of Snarky Puppy, cellists Mike Block and Natalie Haas, fiddlers Hanneke Cassel and Bruce Molsky, and singer-songwriter Aoife O’Donovan. Bailey also enjoys playing in musical theater pits and chamber music. She has placed in chamber music competitions, was awarded the ADT Grant from the McKnight Foundation in January of 2020 for a performance project exploring 21st century music making, and was named an artist in residence for 2021 as part of the Global Music Initiative at the MacPhail Center for Music.
