Kirby Dennis has a lifetime of love for the Suzuki philosophy and its principles. She began her formal violin instruction at the age of three and has had the privilege of sitting on all three sides of the Parent-Teacher-Student Suzuki triangle. Kirby’s students have held leadership positions in state and local endeavors as well as soloed with local orchestras. Kirby’s students have held leadership positions in all of their local and state endeavors and enjoyed soloing with local orchestras. She currently teaches in a Montessori-inspired classroom and runs a private studio. Kirby’s favorite time to teach outside of her home studio is at workshops, institutes, and music camps around the nation and she is always honored to have the opportunity to work with new and familiar faces during this time of travel.
Kirby grew up in the Chicagoland area and graduated in 2008 from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor of Arts in Music and has continued her studies with long term and short term Suzuki Training Alice Joy Lewis, Vera McCoy-Sulentic, Doris Preucil, Edmund Sprunger, Carol Dallinger, and Nancy Jackson. Kirby also enjoys furthering her professional development through workshops and other educational opportunities whenever possible. She is a graduate of the Child Development Program at the St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute as well as the Midwest Montessori Teacher Training Center Lower Elementary program.
During Kirby's time as a student at the University of Illinois, she was the youngest winner of the University of Illinois Concerto Competition String Division and a winner of both the Rolland Violin Competition and the Armstrong Competition. Her violin teachers have included members of the Pacifica Quartet, Mark Zinger, and Gene Purdue. She has also had several opportunities to work with other outstanding musicians and teachers such as Rachel Barton-Pine, Almita Vamos, Ilya Kaler, Stefan Milenkovich, Jacques Israliavich, members of the Vermeer Quartet, the Autobaun Quartet. Her teaching perspectives have also been enriched thanks to opportunities she has had to take several international orchestra tours to such places as Scotland, Vienna, China, and Korea.