Music Academy

     LONDONDERRY YOUTH          CHAMBER ENSEMBLE

We are pleased to introduce our staff of private teachers at the Country String Shop Music Academy.  We are very proud of these folks, and feel that they are quite capable in their areas of expertise.  For further information, please contact us at RKCountryStrings@aol.com.

MOLLY RAHE - violin, viola, voice, beginner cello

Miss Molly Rahe has been playing violin since age 9, and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from Mansfield University in May 2004, specializing in voice and violin.  While attending Mansfield, Molly participated in several groups including Concert Choir, Opera Workshop, Mansfieldians (12-voice vocal jazz/ madrigal ensemble), Symphony Orchestra, and String Trio.  Prior to college, Molly's experience included six years in String Quartet, York Junior Symphony, and the Hanover Symphony Orchestra, in addition to two years at Westminster Choir College Summer Vocal Institute.  Molly has studied violin and viola under the direction of Dr. Kenneth Sarch (Mansfield University), violin with Adrian Bryttan (international violin soloist), and voice under the direction of Dr. Youngsuck Kim (Mansfield University), Julia Kemp (Westminster Choir College), and Ann Ackley Gray (Westminster Choir College).

Molly plays professionally as a soloist and also in groups and ensembles, including the newly formed duo "Stringz by 2."  Since 2005 she has performed over 350 shows including weddings, festivals, private functions and coffeehouses.  More information about her performance career is highlighted on her website, www.mollyrahe.com.

Molly teaches privately at the Country String Shop in Campbelltown, at her home in Harrisburg, and also at locations in Mifflintown and Hanover.  Her teaching style covers all genres of music, from classical to rock.

BETH JACOBS - violin, viola, voice, cello, piano

Beth Jacobs has been playing violin since she started in her school’s orchestra program in 4th grade.  She graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education and Voice Performance from Mansfield University in December 2004.  She studied violin with Dr. Kenneth Sarch at Mansfield as well as voice with Dr. Jean Anne Teal.  She currently studies voice with Dorothy Stone of New York City and her vocal coach is Gary Norden.  She sings many styles of music, including opera, jazz, Broadway musicals, crossover and religious works.  She has performed with Mansfield University’s Festival Chorus as the featured Soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah, and has performed the roles of Inez in Il Trovatore (Burgas, Bulgaria and Hradek Kralove, Czech Republic), Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro, Micaela in Carmen and Nadina in the Chocolate Soldier in Harrisburg with Capitol Opera.   Beth performed the musical role as Muzzy Van Hossmere with Harrisburg Youth For Christ’s summer production of Thoroughly Modern Millie.  She has substituted for the Central Pennsylvania Symphony on viola, and plays in pit orchestras around the area.  Beth is also the Soprano Soloist at the Grace United Methodist Church on State Street in Harrisburg. 

Beth works as a chorus director and general music teacher at the Susquehanna Township Middle School, and is the vocal coach for Susquehanna Township High School Musicals.  She teaches privately at the Country String Shop in Campbelltown, and in Harrisburg.  Beth and Molly were classmates at Mansfield University, and they have recently formed the performance duo "Stringz by 2," offering their special musical repertoire to weddings, festivals, and private functions.

JENNIFER HARRIS - violin, viola, cello, ensembles

Jennifer Harris graduated from West Chester University with a B.S. degree in music education.  Jen has performed with the Hershey Symphony, Shaw Strings (largest all-female string group in Pennsylvania), Ephrata Performing Arts Center, and various other ensembles.  She is a member of the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association, and teaches privately at home and at the Country String Shop Music Academy, where she directs the Londonderry Youth String Ensemble and Londonderry Junior Youth String Ensemble, for school-aged string players.

         JEN STARSINIC - violin, fiddle, mandolin

Jen Starsinic began playing violin at age 9 in her school’s elementary string program.  At age 12, Jen became fascinated with the world of improvisatory string playing and has since expanded her horizons to include the genres of bluegrass, old time, Celtic, rock, and jazz.  While honing her technique with classical teachers Dennis Jones and Dr. Johannes Dietrich of Lebanon Valley College, she has also extensively explored the world of improvisatory fiddle, mainly with teacher and professional musician Ken Gehret.  Jen has also studied with prominent fiddlers such as Darol Anger and Tracey Silverman at the Mark O'Connor Fiddle Camp in Tennessee and with Christian Howes and John Blake at Berklee College of Music’s annual String Fling.

A regular performing artist, Jen has played over 200 performances throughout Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and Virginia with the bluegrass band Iron Ridge since she joined the group in September 2005.  In June 2008, Jen also became a full-time member of Ophelia, playing fiddle, guitar, banjo and voice with the West Virginia based old-time string band.  In addition to these regular endeavors, Jen also acts as a “fill-in fiddler” and has played with many bands in the area. She has participated in a number of performances at Harrisburg’s Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts, the Carroll Arts Center, the Arcadia Bluegrass Festival and the Lucketts Community Bluegrass Series.   Jen has traveled to Minneapolis, MN and Providence, RI to perform with Hershey Symphony Festival Strings at MENC All-Eastern and National Conferences.

Jen attended the Capital Area School for the Arts in downtown Harrisburg under the direction of TJ Boyer and has begun studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston.  

                                                                  For further information about the Music Academy, please contact                                        us at RKCountryStrings@aol.com

                                                           
                                                                            Music Academy Building
                                                             2849 Horseshoe Pike, PO Box 499
                                                            Campbelltown, PA  17010
                                                                              Phone (717) 838-8732    FAX (717) 838-9206
                                                               email:  RKCountryStrings@aol.com