Carey Alain Cheney
Carey Cheney, a native of Canada has been teaching and performing for 30 years. She is a Registered Teacher Trainer for the Suzuki Association of the Americas, and has done teacher training in all levels of the Suzuki literature, as well as many enrichment courses throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico.
She holds the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in cello performance from the University of Utah, and a Master of Music in cello performance, from the University of Texas at Austin. While there she studied cello and pedagogy with Phyllis Young and taught cello, orchestra and chamber music in the UT String Project. She has taught at many institutes in the US and Canada including the Mid-Southeast Suzuki Institute, New Orleans Suzuki Institute, American Suzuki Institute, National Cello Institute, Chicago Suzuki Institute, Stanford University Advanced Suzuki Institute, Montreal Suzuki Institute, Edmonton Suzuki Institute, Southern Ontario Suzuki Institute, South Carolina Suzuki Institute, Hawaii Suzuki Institute, Brandon Suzuki String Institute, and the DFW-WOW Suzuki Institute in Dallas. She has taught at many weekend and short-term workshops all over the US and Canada.
She continues to teach and travel internationally, in 1988 Brazil to the Winter Festival in Santa Maria, in 1999 to Japan where she taught at the World Suzuki Conference, in 2006 to Turin, Italy where she taught at the 2006 World Suzuki Convention, in 2008, 2012 and 2013 to New Zealand, and Sydney Australia, and most recently in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014 to Mexico City to teach at the FICUP International Music Festival. She regularly travels to cities in Canada to be an adjudicator for the Canadian Kiwanis Music Festivals.
Currently, Carey maintains a large cello studio with her cellist- husband Elliott in Salt Lake City, and she continues to perform solo and chamber music recitals frequently. She has recently recorded eight audio CDs and prepared six of the eight volumes of her series, Solos For Young Cellists published by Summy-Birchard, a subsidiary of Alfred Music Co. Inc.
Elliott Ward Cheney
Cellist Elliott Cheney holds Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degrees in cello performance from the University of Texas, where he studied with Phyllis Young. He has been the Principal Cellist of the National Symphony of Costa Rica, and The Savannah Symphony, and has been on the faculties of the University of Costa Rica, Southwestern University, Armstrong College, and the University of Tennessee. He currently is Associate Professor on the music faculty at the University of Utah where he teaches Introduction to Music, cello, and coaches string quartets. Elliott is active as a solo cellist, and has recently performed concertos by Saint-Saens, Dvorak, Haydn, Tchaikovsky and Vivaldi, as well as the Brahms Double Concerto and the Beethoven Triple Concerto. In addition, he has recently performed over two weekend concerts, the complete solos Suites by J. S. Bach. He also gives frequent recitals, and has performed numerous recitals in Salt Lake on the University of Utah School of Music’s series Sundays at Seven, but also throughout the United States and Canada, as well Brazil, Austria and Spain.
With his wife, Carey, the Cheney's maintain a large cello studio, teaching all ages, from three-year-olds on up. With the large numbers in their studios, they enjoy having group activities together, such as group lessons, and student solo recitals, as well as taking students on musical trips near and far. They have recently formed a family cello trio with their son, Livingston, who is almost 17 years old. They are looking forward to performing together more and more in the future.
Elliott is also in demand as a teacher and clinician at festivals and institutes. His performing and teaching activities have taken him to Hawaii, California, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, North and South Carolina, Louisiana, Florida, New York, Ohio, Canada, Brazil, Costa Rica, Spain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France and Mexico. When flying with an extra seat for his cello, he always makes sure the airlines serve his cello dinner.
Elliott is a passionate antique car hobbyist, restoring cars whenever he is not practicing. He has a 1947 Pontiac woodie wagon, 1953 Chrysler New Yorker, 1953 Morgan roadster, 1946 Chevrolet Fleetmaster convertible and a 1967 MGB.