For more than twenty years, Ms. Hankins has taught both private and group lessons for beginners to collegiate skill levels. She has many years of experience working with students and families of diverse socio-economic backgrounds, as well as students with special requirements including Autism, Asperger syndrome, language barriers, and physical limitations.
In addition to teaching private lessons, Ms. Hankins has served in a variety of teaching capacities, including Strings Director of non-profit music programs based in Boys and Girls Clubs; city school Artist in Residence, where she developed a modified Suzuki violin program for the classroom setting; and masterclass guest teacher at a Suzuki Summer Institute, where she produced and taught courses in beginning and intermediate jazz improvisation for strings. Ms. Hankins has performed with outstanding musicians from all over the country in concerts, public and private events, and recording projects at venues in Indiana, Tennessee, New York, North Carolina, Virginia, and New Orleans.
Ms. Hankins grew up learning by the Suzuki Method. Its approach of beginning to learn by ear was a natural process for her, and she progressed very quickly. In fact, she began teaching at the young age of twelve in the small Indiana town where she grew up, and was later entrusted as the interim director of the Suzuki violin program where she had been a student. Ms. Hankins has a unique ability to connect with people of any age and really loves to get to know her students and their families. She teaches with kindness and humor while still holding technique and musicianship to high standards. In addition to inspiring her students to build their skills as fine musicians, she also enjoys helping her students to grow as individuals of fine character.
Ms. Hankins earned her bachelors degree in music from the University of Tennessee, where she studied classical performance with Matus Zelmonovich and jazz performance with Rusty Holloway, Mark Boling, and Jerry Coker. In addition to her degree, Bethany has also pursued numerous training and observation opportunities at Suzuki Institutes over the years. She has registered teacher training with the Suzuki Association of the Americas through violin Book 4. Her trainers have included Marylin O’Boyle, Craig Timmerman, Mary Cay Neal, Terry Durbin, and Ed Kreitman.