My name is Tim, and I am a musician, educator, and advocate for student success. Currently, I am a teacher at SUNY Potsdam where my appointment is Assistant Professor of Music Business.
As a violinist, I have been a life-long student of music. I began my studies at age four at the Preucil School of Music in Iowa City. Afterward, I studied with a long list of teachers who helped me develop and shape my style as a violinist and educator. I also studied violin abroad with two great teachers, Alexander Kirov in Moscow and Anatolly Davidovitch Reznikovsky in St Petersburg. From those experiences, I gained a lot of first-hand knowledge of Russian pedagogy, technique, and artistic style.
After college, I spent some time pursuing a non-performance career. I worked in the mobile technology space and also worked as an orchestra manager. I also went to San Jose State for an MBA. Eventually, I decided to return to school since I had the goal of someday teaching music in higher ed.
I went to UW-Madison for my doctorate and received a lot of teacher training (they have a world-famous education program). I also was a program manager at the Division of Diversity and supported many students of color on the UW campus as they navigated their first job experiences.
After UW, I attended IU-Bloomington to work with Mimi Zweig, a top pedagogue in string education. I completed a performer’s diploma at Indiana University Bloomington, where I helped teach at the IU String Academy. In Bloomington, I also worked at Fairview Elementary School teaching violin group classes, and I helped with administration at the Jacob’s Academy for their summer programs.
Mimi’s student, who is a professor at SUNY Potsdam, invited me to help teach with her in Potsdam, New York. So I ended up in Potsdam, teaching violin, chamber music, a gen-ed course on BIPOC and Women composers, and music business. I was also involved in the Lougheed Center for Applied Learning as an applied learning fellow where I offered career counseling. My role has focused, and now my area of teaching is primarily Music Business (although I still love to do research, perform, teach applied music, and jam).
Throughout this journey, many of my students have found success in meeting their goals. My students have gone on to successful careers and I’m excited to see my current students go on to accomplish incredible things in the field of music.
Coaching
California Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, San Jose Youth Symphony, Crane Symphony Orchestra, UC Santa Cruz Orchestra, Empire State Youth Orchestra
Education
Music Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate, Performer’s Diploma, and MBA
Harvard Business School Online (Entrepreneurship)
Dorothy Delay Symposiums for Violin Teaching, The Juilliard School
St. Petersburg Conservatory, Certificate, and Moscow Conservatory international program, Certificate
UW-Madison Teaching Academy
UW-Madison Active Teaching Labs
Aaron Rosand Intensive Violin Program
University Workshops: Coaching and Developing Others, Teaching Character and Creating Positive Classrooms, and many others
Music Teachers
Byung Woo Kim, Mark Kaplan, Movses Pogossian, Guillaume Sutre, David Perry, Aaron Rosand, and Mimi Zweig. Chamber music with Antonio Lysy, Paul Colleti, Igor Gavrish, Eli Eban, and Austin Hartman
Here is my short professional bio
With a comprehensive background as a pedagogue, Dr. Timothy Yip has dedicated many years to instructing students at all levels. Before moving to New York, he had taught violin in the San Francisco Bay Area for over a decade and has provided coaching and adjudication for regional student orchestras. Timothy’s expertise has contributed to the success of numerous students, including top-place winners in both regional and national competitions. Additionally, Timothy has been adjudicated in New York for competitions hosted by MTNA and the Crane School of Music.
In his pursuit of a well-rounded skill set, Timothy ventured into the field of business and entrepreneurship. He pursued business studies at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, San Jose State University (where he earned his MBA), and Harvard Business School Online. His diverse experience includes establishing an award-winning private studio, assuming administrative responsibilities at the Division of Diversity at UW-Madison, managing operations of youth symphonies in the Bay Area, leading teams in the software development space, and playing a key role in the launch and support of multiple top-grossing mobile applications.
He has been the recipient of the NAMM show faculty fellowship and an Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentorship at SUNY Potsdam.
Timothy attended UCLA, UW-Madison, Indiana University (where he served as a teaching assistant to Mimi Zweig), and the St. Petersburg Conservatory. To learn more about Timothy, please visit timyipviolin.com.