Vanessa Mio, Ph.D.
Dr. Vanessa Mio is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor within the Faculty of Education and the Music Education (Continuing Education) departments at the University of Windsor. She is the Director of the Windsor String Academy and University of Windsor Lab School: Strings program in Windsor, Ontario. Vanessa is also serving as the String Discipline Specialist for the Royal Conservatory of Music College of Examiners and a violinist with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra. Vanessa completed a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Studies degree (with a focus on violin pedagogy) from the University of Windsor. Vanessa also earned a Master of Music, a Bachelor of Music, and a Performance Diploma in Violin Performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where she studied violin with Mimi Zweig, Kathleen Winkler, Baroque violin with Stanley Ritchie, and string pedagogy with Mimi Zweig and Dr. Brenda Brenner. Vanessa’s passion for teaching was sparked at Indiana University where she was appointed as an Associate Instructor with the Indiana University String Academy from 2005-2008.
As a performer, pedagogue, and scholar, Vanessa is passionate about teacher training and string education research. She was awarded a prestigious Insight Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada for her current research investigating how young string students engage in a specialized curriculum to determine cognitive and physiological reactions, and various social and emotional developments within a group context. She was also awarded a SSHRC Doctoral Scholarship where she investigated the remedial teaching strategies of postsecondary violin instructors. She has presented her research at provincial and international conferences (including the International Society for Music Education, the American String Teachers’ Association, the Indiana Music Education Association, the Ontario Music Educators’ Association, and the Canadian Society for the Study of Education). Vanessa has recently published articles in the Canadian Music Educator Journal, American String Teacher Journal, The Recorder (Quarterly Journal of the Ontario Music Educators’ Association), International Journal of Music Education, and Update: Applications of Research in Music Education. Through her current research interests, Vanessa hopes to contribute significantly to the field of string pedagogy as the scope of her research expands.
Informed by her research and teaching activities, Vanessa developed the first string pedagogy course offered to music performance and education majors in Canada at both Western University (graduate and undergraduate) and Wilfrid Laurier University (undergraduate), and developed a new violin/viola group string instruction course for undergraduate music education students at Western. Vanessa has also recently developed three innovative Instrumental (Strings) Additional Qualification courses (offered through the Ontario College of Teachers) for elementary and secondary music educators across Ontario.
Vanessa has pursued a variety of professional development opportunities and has become a sought-after clinician, teacher, and adjudicator. Vanessa is a String Examiner for The Royal Conservatory of Music, College of Examiners, and has traveled extensively throughout North America as an Ambassador for the Certificate Program. She has also adjudicated many festivals across Canada, including the upper string division of the Ontario Music Festivals Association Provincial Competition in May of 2017. Vanessa has taught at the Nova Scotia Suzuki Violin Institute in Halifax, NS, attended the Starling-DeLay Symposium for Violin Studies at The Juilliard School, participated in a workshop led by Brian Lewis at the Southwestern Ontario Suzuki Institute, and attended a Retreat for Violin and Viola Teachers at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
Vanessa has spent summers touring with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada; participating in the Casalmaggiore International Festival in Italy; teaching in Tuscany for a Professional Teachers Workshop alongside Mimi Zweig; and studying at the Banff Centre for the Arts with the Très Chic Piano Trio (Chamber Music Residency for Pre-Formed Ensembles). Vanessa has also performed with the Penderecki String Quartet and the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra.
Vanessa is a member of the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM), Canadian Music Festival Adjudicators’ Association (CMFAA), Ontario Music Educators’ Association (OMEA), Canadian Music Educators’ Association (CMEA), American String Teachers Association (ASTA), the Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA), and the International Society for Music Education (ISME).