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Strings Program
Suzuki String Program
The Suzuki Group classes meet on Thursdays.
Students may register for this program throughout the year. A Fall 2019 Suzuki Program parent meeting will be Monday, August 19** at 6pm. (**please note change)
Traditional Private Lessons
Traditional Private Lessons are offered year-round. 30, 45, and 60 minute lessons are available. You may register throughout the year. Summer lessons are optional. Lessons are appropriate for ages 3 and up.
Chamber Music Groups
Chamber Music Groups are offered in the spring only. Trios, quartets, and more are coached for 1 hour each week. Groups are appropriate for ages 5th grade and up. Students must be able to read music.
Register for Classes or Lessons
To register for Suzuki or private lessons please complete the Private Lesson Inquiry Form. Once the form is submitted, you will be contacted to schedule private lessons.
We offer YES! Fund scholarships for students who qualify for free or reduced lunch. Please contact MAC at 785-537-4420 for more information when registering.
Group Violin @ MAC
Manhattan Arts Center's Group Violin classes are an introduction to violin for students ages 4-12. While based in the Suzuki philosophy, these group classes have a more informal approach and are designed for students who are not also taking privately.
MAC Group Violin meets weekly for 12 weeks each semester. Each level is designed as a one-year curriculum that runs September to May, but students may join in January.
All students new to the violin take our Foundations Class. Students are then grouped by playing levels.
Parent attendance at class is encouraged but not required. Group Violin tuition can include a violin.
Fall 2019 Group Violin begins Monday, Sept 16. We'll hold a parent meeting for all levels of Group Violin on Sept 30.
All students new to the violin take our Foundations Class. Students are then grouped by playing levels.
Parent attendance at class is encouraged but not required. Group Violin tuition can include a violin.
Fall 2019 Group Violin begins Monday, Sept 16. We'll hold a parent meeting for all levels of Group Violin on Sept 30.
CSPA String Faculty
Laura Eakman - violin/viola, String Division Chair
Mandy Wang - violin
Sunnat Ibragimov - cell
Benjamin Beggs - bass
Mandy Wang, Violin
Violinist Man Wang is the first prize winner of the 2015 MTNA Kansas State and West Central competition, third prize winner of the 2015 Enkor International Chamber Music Competition, honor prize of the 2016 Misbin Memorial Chamber Music Competition. Other competitions she got top prizes include 2010 Shandong Young Artist Competition and Golden Award of the Music Competition in Beijing. She has performed extensively as a soloist and member of the CNU String Quartet throughout Beijing and Shandong. Between 2000 and 2006, Ms. Wang was frequently invited to perform in Japan, Korea and Taiwan with the Shandong Youth Philharmonic as a soloist, chamber musician, and concertmaster. In the summer of 2017 she performed in Aspen Music Festival under the baton of Ludovic Morlot and Jane Glover. Also she was a member of the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico in its inaugural season in 2017.
Ms. Wang’s talent for music was noticed when she was very young. She began studying the violin at the age of 5 in Shandong. In 2007, She was admitted to the Beijing Capital Normal University (CNU) as a top student. She completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees with the most prestigious scholarships. In 2018 Man Wang received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in violin performance at the University of Kansas, where she studied with Dr. Véronique Mathieu and served as a graduate teaching assistant for the university orchestra. Since 2017 she is a faculty member at Ottawa University in Kansas.
Sunnat Ibragimov, cello
Sunnat Ibragimov has established himself as an artist of creativity, passion and technical command. He is one of the most prominent cellists to emerge from the Central Asian republics and has studied with many of the top artists of our time. He has performed live and on radio with major soloists, chamber musicians, orchestras and conductors. He performed with orchestras (“Soloists of
Uzbekistan,” Uzbek National Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Des Moines Symphony, Omaha Symphony, Shenyang Symphony, Hays Symphony, Southeast Kansas Symphony), chamber musicians (Shmuel Ashkenasi, Borromeo String Quartet); festivals (the Orford Music Festival in Montreal, Aspen Music Festival) and has worked under such prominent conductors as Carl St. Clair, Gerard Schwarz , John Nelson, Hugh Wolff and Robert Spano. In
2017 as a cello fellow he performed with the Aspen Festival Orchestra under Joshua Weilerstein.
Born in Tashkent, he began the cello at 7 and studied at the Glière State Music School and the Uzbek State Conservatory. Ibragimov earned a Bachelor of Music from Park University’s International Center for Music, where he studied with Martin Storey and Daniel Veis, and he continued, also on full scholarship, at the University of Southern California with Andrew Shulman and Ben Hong. Recently, he finished his Masters degree at the University of Kansas under the tutelage of Hannah Collins and Mark Gibbs. Currently, Sunnat Ibragimov is on the faculty at the Pittsburg State University.
Violinist Man Wang is the first prize winner of the 2015 MTNA Kansas State and West Central competition, third prize winner of the 2015 Enkor International Chamber Music Competition, honor prize of the 2016 Misbin Memorial Chamber Music Competition. Other competitions she got top prizes include 2010 Shandong Young Artist Competition and Golden Award of the Music Competition in Beijing. She has performed extensively as a soloist and member of the CNU String Quartet throughout Beijing and Shandong. Between 2000 and 2006, Ms. Wang was frequently invited to perform in Japan, Korea and Taiwan with the Shandong Youth Philharmonic as a soloist, chamber musician, and concertmaster. In the summer of 2017 she performed in Aspen Music Festival under the baton of Ludovic Morlot and Jane Glover. Also she was a member of the International Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico in its inaugural season in 2017.
Ms. Wang’s talent for music was noticed when she was very young. She began studying the violin at the age of 5 in Shandong. In 2007, She was admitted to the Beijing Capital Normal University (CNU) as a top student. She completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees with the most prestigious scholarships. In 2018 Man Wang received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in violin performance at the University of Kansas, where she studied with Dr. Véronique Mathieu and served as a graduate teaching assistant for the university orchestra. Since 2017 she is a faculty member at Ottawa University in Kansas.
Sunnat Ibragimov, cello
Sunnat Ibragimov has established himself as an artist of creativity, passion and technical command. He is one of the most prominent cellists to emerge from the Central Asian republics and has studied with many of the top artists of our time. He has performed live and on radio with major soloists, chamber musicians, orchestras and conductors. He performed with orchestras (“Soloists of
Uzbekistan,” Uzbek National Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Des Moines Symphony, Omaha Symphony, Shenyang Symphony, Hays Symphony, Southeast Kansas Symphony), chamber musicians (Shmuel Ashkenasi, Borromeo String Quartet); festivals (the Orford Music Festival in Montreal, Aspen Music Festival) and has worked under such prominent conductors as Carl St. Clair, Gerard Schwarz , John Nelson, Hugh Wolff and Robert Spano. In
2017 as a cello fellow he performed with the Aspen Festival Orchestra under Joshua Weilerstein.
Born in Tashkent, he began the cello at 7 and studied at the Glière State Music School and the Uzbek State Conservatory. Ibragimov earned a Bachelor of Music from Park University’s International Center for Music, where he studied with Martin Storey and Daniel Veis, and he continued, also on full scholarship, at the University of Southern California with Andrew Shulman and Ben Hong. Recently, he finished his Masters degree at the University of Kansas under the tutelage of Hannah Collins and Mark Gibbs. Currently, Sunnat Ibragimov is on the faculty at the Pittsburg State University.
Benjamin Beggs, Double Bass
Double bassist Benjamin Beggs received his Bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University. He then attended Indiana University where his principal teachers were Lawrence Hurst, Jeff Turner, Peter Lloyd, Owen Lee, and Craig Brown. While at Indiana, he also studied orchestral repertoire and audition preparation with Bruce Bransby.
Benjamin Beggs is the current Principal bassist for the Topeka Symphony Orchestra. He is the former Principal double bass for the Terre Haute Symphony and former section player in the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic. He has also performed with the Arkansas Philharmonic in Little Rock, and the Evansville Philharmonic.