The Tallahassee Homeschool String Orchestra (THSO) is a string education program dedicated to providing valuable ensemble experience to homeschool string students of varying playing levels. It is open to all homeschool students and other interested students as approved by the orchestra directors. All rehearsals begin with prayer and are taught with a Christian emphasis and worldview. THSO consists of six ensembles for students between the ages of 3 and 18, including beginner, intermediate, and advanced groups.
Originally established in August 2014, the Tallahassee Homeschool String Orchestra was originally founded by Jennifer Morgan Clyde and Joanna Pepple with approximately 25 students in the first year. The group has since grown to about 100 students within 6 ensembles and currently meets at Thomasville Road Baptist Church.
About The Faculty
ERIKA SCIASCIA
Instructor
Erika is a Tallahassee-based violinist and teacher with over 20 years of musical experience. Erika has been teaching since 2016 and is passionate about helping students discover their potential through music. Erika has completed 12 music education-specific courses during her undergraduate degree and recently obtained her Suzuki Book 1 Teacher Certification. In addition to teaching with the Tallahassee Homeschool Orchestra, Erika maintains a thriving studio of private students and is a Sectional Coach with the Tallahassee Youth Orchestra.
Erika is the first runner up to both the 2019 Ocala Young Artist Competition and the 2019 "Città di Airola" Concorso Internazionale di Esecuzione Musicale. Recently, she won the Concertmaster position with the Panama City Symphony, and will begin in this role for the 23-24 season. Erika is also a member of several regional orchestras and maintains an active performing schedule.
Erika holds a Bachelors and Masters in Violin Performance from Florida State University, where she was a graduate assistant to Dr. Benjamin Sung, and a Performance Certificate from the Conservatory of Italian Switzerland, where she was a student of Pavel Berman.
JOANN SOLARI
Instructor
Joann Solari graduated from Florida State University where she earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s in Music Therapy. Her primary instrument is viola and she also took secondary piano lessons. Joann was an Arts After School Director and Summer Camp Director for many years. Here she taught elementary-aged children everything from percussion, to dancing, piano, music history, and theory. She currently works as music therapist in nursing homes and pre-schools as well as teaching private violin, viola, and piano lessons in the Tallahassee area. Joann loves looking forward to each rehearsal with the students and developing in them a love for orchestra with THSO!
JOANNA PEPPLE
Co-Founder, Director Emeritus
Joanna Pepple is a co-founder and Director Emeritus of the Tallahassee Homeschool String Orchestra. She has a Ph.D. in Historical Musicology from Florida State University and has served as a Musicology Teaching Assistant, teaching core music history classes to undergraduate music majors. She earned a Master’s and a Bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance at Appalachian State University and Mercer University, respectively. As an orchestral musician, she has served as a contract player with the Albany Symphony, Macon Symphony, and Western Piedmont Symphony. At Appalachian State University, Joanna completed her Master’s degree serving as a Graduate Assistant in the Hayes Graduate String Quartet, playing both violin and viola. Wanting to learn more about effective strategies in teaching young children, she completed the Long-Term Suzuki Pedagogy Training (Books 1-10) at East Carolina University under the tutelage of Joanne Bath while pursuing a second Master’s degree in Music Theory/Composition. There she was a teacher in an outreach after-school elementary Suzuki program in Bath, North Carolina, taught undergraduate music theory and fundamentals at the University, and created and managed a music theory lab for tutoring undergraduate music majors. Joanna has taught private violin and viola students of all ages. Her dissertation research on the impact of the Leipzig Conservatory on American music education has brought her to study and research in Germany in 2014 and 2015, funded through DAAD grants (German Academic Exchange Service). Joanna loves working with students and sharing her passion for learning and music. She is currently working as an Accreditation Assistant at the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) in Reston, Virginia.
JENNIFER MORGAN CLYDE
Co-Founder
Dr. Jennifer Morgan Clyde, is a co-founder of the Tallahassee Homeschool String Orchestra program. Jennifer served TSHO from 2014-2017. She currrently performs and teaches in North Georgia with the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra (GA) and the Toccoa Symphony Orchestra (GA). Jennifer has also soloed with the Plainview Symphony Orchestra (TX). She has given solo performances for the 117th Congress’ Republican Conference and for the 117th Congress’ Republican Freshmen in Statuary Hall of the United States Capitol. Jennifer’s teaching experience also includes serving as adjunct instructor at Truett McConnell University (current), founding and teaching the Athens Homeschool Strings and the Dawsonville Homeschool Strings (current), working as a teaching assistant at Florida State University, and serving as adjunct strings instructor at Wayland Baptist University. She holds a BM in music education from Wayland Baptist University, an MM in violin performance from Texas Tech University, and a DM in violin performance from Florida State University. Jennifer has studied with Corinne Stillwell, John Gilbert, Cynthia Scully and Martha Perez.