Our Teachers
Carol Gimbel
Beginner/Intermediate Violin and All Levels Viola
RCM Examinations
Director of Music in the Barns, Carol enjoys working with young, passionate string players of all ages. Her ten years of teaching experience includes directing private studios in both New York and Toronto, teaching at both the Brooklyn School of Music (New York) and the Kingsway Conservatory (Toronto). Carol is a Suzuki certified instructor in addition to teaching traditional methods and encouraging participation in RCM examinations, yearly performance opportunities and leading group masterclasses. Carol has also done extensive work with the New York Renaissance Program and the Noel Pointer Foundation, teaching in low-income schools throughout the New York City Area. Carol continues to develop community programs from concerts to instruction throughout the Greater Toronto Area and most recently classical concerts for children and a chamber music series at the Artscape Wychwood Barns.
Amanda Penner
Violin/Viola
RCM Examinations
Originally from Manitoba, Amanda Penner completed her Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance before moving to Toronto to complete a degree in Viola Performance and Musicology at the University of Toronto.
Having a natural love for teaching, Amanda has more than 10 years experience, primarily spent at the Huntsville Suzuki School of Music, where she also acted as Interim Artistic Director.
Sensitive and thorough, Amanda is dedicated to helping each of her students find their own, fullest self-expression through skill and creativity. Above her own career path as a freelance musician, Amanda currently teaches as part of the JCC Miles-Nadal Suzuki Program, Reaching Out Through Music and is looking forward to being part of the collaborations at Music in the Barns.
Tova Rosenberg, Early Childhood Specialist
March Break and Summer Camp Leader
Ages 1-2, 2-3 and Beginning Musicianship Classes
Originally from Halifax, cellist Tova Rosenberg has recently returned to Canada after almost a decade of teaching and performing in New York City. Incorporating her extensive Suzuki training (Suzuki Association of the Americas certified teacher: Every Child Can, Suzuki Principles in Action, Cello Practicum, Cello Books 1 – 10) with her love of working with young children, she has developed exciting programs for early childhood music education in New York, and now in Toronto. Tova was the director of the Early Childhood Music Program at the prestigious New York School for Strings, where she taught both early childhood music classes and Suzuki cello lessons. She was also on the cello faculty at the Diller-Quaile School of Music and the Third Street Music School Settlement. An active performer, Tova was a founding member of the TEA trio. She holds an M.M. from DePaul University and a B.M. from McGill and is a graduate of the School for Strings 2-year intensive Suzuki Teacher Training Program. She is also certified in the Mark O’Connor Violin Method. Tova was artist-in-residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts, where she performed with Edgar Meyer, Geoff Nuttall, Menahem Pressler and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, among others. Since moving to Toronto, Tova has been appointed to the faculty at the Etobicoke Suzuki Music School, where she teaches cello as well as the Headstart pre-instrumental program. Tova is the creator/teacher of the Early Childhood Music Program at the Wychwood Barns' Music in the Barns studio, where she also holds Suzuki cello classes. She designed and teaches a custom music curriculum for the Preschool Enrichment Program at the Miles Nadal JCC called Do, Re…Me!