Laura Eis, NCSI Director
Laura Eis earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Susquehanna University in 2001. She received a Master of Music degree in Violin Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy and a Certificate of Advanced Performance Studies in viola from East Carolina University in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Currently Ms. Eis is a member of the Fayetteville Symphony, the Tar River Symphony, and concertmaster of the Pitt Community College Orchestra. She is a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas, and treasurer of the North Carolina and Eastern North Carolina Suzuki Associations.
Ms. Eis maintains a private violin and viola studio in Greenville, NC, is conductor of the Eastern Preparatory Youth Orchestra, and is an adjunct faculty member at Fayetteville State University, Methodist University, and Pitt Community College. She was the assistant/associate Director of the North Carolina Suzuki Institute from 2007-2023 and is looking forward to her second year as Director this summer!
Nan Freeman
Nan Freeman has been teaching using the Suzuki Method since 1973. She holds a Music Education degree from Appalachian State University. In addition to teaching, she is the Director Emeritus of the Suzuki School of the Arts in Hickory, NC and the Director of the Virginia Suzuki Institute in Emory, VA. She also directs the Suzuki Tour Group of the Carolina’s which has toured throughout the eastern United States, the Caribbean,and Europe. She heads up a Suzuki Workshop through the Suzuki School of the Arts as well.
She is a retired middle school orchestra teacher and symphony player with the Western Piedmont Symphony where she performed for 51 years. Nan and her husband Gene are avid potters and have their own pottery studio, Foo’s Pottery, where they enjoy making lots of fun and functional pottery. They have three sons who grew up as Suzuki students. Her biggest joy in life is spending time with her 4 granddaughters and her family.
Pattie Hopkins Kinlaw
Pattie Hopkins Kinlaw is a seasoned violinist, fiddler, and educator with over 20 years of experience in performance and teaching. A native of North Carolina, she earned her Bachelor of Music from East Carolina University and has released 12 albums, blending traditional roots and contemporary styles. She co-founded the nationally recognized band Hank, Pattie & The Current, releasing six acclaimed albums since 2015.
As a passionate advocate for roots music, Pattie co-founded the Music Heritage Foundation of North Carolina, preserving and promoting indigenous musical traditions. A certified instructor in both the Suzuki and American Violin Methods, she has taught students of all ages, combining individual instruction with group classes in theory, improvisation, and ensemble playing.
Pattie’s expertise has taken her to stages and classrooms across the U.S., Canada, Iceland, and the U.K., including festivals such as Merlefest, Grey Fox, FloydFest,ReykjavíkFolk Festival, and ROMP. She has performed with icons like Sam Bush, Mark O’Connor, and the Charlie Daniels Band. Through her teaching, performances, and global outreach, Pattie continues to inspire a new generation of musicians while championing America’s rich musical heritage.
Betsy Hughes
Betsy Hughes began Suzuki violin lessons at the age of three in Greenville, North Carolina with Nancy Kostek and later with Katherine Jenkins. While a student at East Carolina University, she studied with Fritz Gearhart, Ara Gregorian, and Joanne Bath. She received her Bachelor of Music in Music Education from ECU in 2001 and her Master of Music in Violin Performance with a concentration in Suzuki Violin Pedagogy in 2002. Mrs. Hughes has registered long term teacher training with the Suzuki Association of the Americas for volumes 1A-10.
Mrs. Hughes has served on the faculty of the NC Suzuki Institute since 2002. She is also on the faculty for the Virginia Suzuki Institute and the Pennsylvania Suzuki Institute. Currently, Mrs. Hughes is the orchestra director at JH Rose HS and CM Eppes Middle School in Greenville. She has twenty-three years of classroom experience. She is the president of the ECU Friends of the School of Music Board as well as a board member for the S. Rudolph Alexander Performing Arts Series at ECU. She resides in Greenville with her husband, Robert, and their two children, Murray (age 18) and Hazel Kate (age 15).
Gabriela Potter Peoples
Gabriela Potter Peoples is a professional violinist, violist, and registered Suzuki violin instructor residing in Durham, NC. Gabriela has completed intensive long-term teacher training with renowned Suzuki Pedagogue Joanne Bath, and has registered teacher training for Violin Books 1-10 with the Suzuki Association of the Americas. She completed Suzuki Early Childhood Education Unit 1 teacher training with Danette Schuh, Revisiting Suzuki Violin Book 1 teacher training with James Hutchins, and Suzuki Violin Book 7 teacher training with Kirsten Marshall. She has also attended Music Mind Games Unit 1 teacher training with Kristen Tourville.
Gabriela is a proud alum of the East Carolina University School of Music, and serves as Secretary of the North Carolina Suzuki Association. Gabriela enjoys listening to audiobooks while tending to her garden, camping with her husband and friends in state parks and forests, attending workouts at Burn Boot Camp, and teaching her students ages 3-70 at the High Strung School of Music near Duke’s East Campus.
Annie Valente
Annie Valente began her musical studies on piano with her mother at 5 years old. At 9 years old, she continued on with violin. She continued her studies on both instruments, and eventually developing a deep love for the violin repertoire. She received her Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY, and her Master of Arts in Violin Performance from NYU in New York, NY.
Annie specializes in teaching the Suzuki Method. Her students range from 3 years to adults. She teaches from her home studio in Cary, NC. She also utilizes Music Mind Games within her studio.
She received her Suzuki training from James Hutchins (Book 1 and 9-10), Kimberly Meir-Sims (Book 2), Carrie Reuning-Hummel (Book 3), Kirsten Marshall (Books 4-5), David Strom (Book 1 and 6), and Rolando Freitag (Book 7-8). Additionally, Annie is trained in Suzuki in the Schools Unit 1, as well as Suzuki Early Childhood Education Unit 1.
Annie is currently the Early Childhood and Elementary Specialist at the Montessori School of Raleigh in Raleigh, NC teaching children from toddler to rising 4th graders. She also has her own private studio at home in Cary, NC.
Elizabeth Ivy Wilson
Elizabeth Ivy Wilson is a professional violinist, Suzuki educator, and mental health advocate based in Greenville, NC. Originally from Ohio, she began her studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music, later performing in the 42nd Suzuki Grand Concert in Tokyo and for Dr. Shinichi Suzuki in Kyoto. She earned her B.M. from the New England Conservatory and a double certificate in Violin Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy from East Carolina University.
A versatile performer and clinician, Elizabeth is passionate about the Suzuki philosophy and its impact on society through early private and group music education. She sees music as a source of character growth, connection, and lifelong joy—and shares Dr. Suzuki’s belief that teaching music is a path to nurturing beautiful hearts