Kimberly Testa
Kimberly Testa
Violin, Viola, Cello & Piano
Kimberly Testa is a classically trained, master educator with over 20 years of teaching experience. Kim began her music journey at the age of 9 in the public school system in New York, playing the violin in the school orchestra. Soon after she added piano and by high school was also playing the cello. Kim knew she wanted to go to college for music, so she chose to fully immerse herself in every music course available, enrolling in Music Theory I & II AP, Chamber Orchestra and even an additional orchestra group to devote more time to playing cello. She filled the rest of her free time with every performance opportunity she could find, including the schools rock band, her own rock band, marching band, and even musical productions as a vocalist and instrumentalist.
Kim was awarded a scholarship to the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, NY where she would receive her Bachelors of Music in Music Education. She began with violin as her principal, but soon added so much piano, that it was almost a dual major. Kim minored in Music Business and was awarded a NAMM scholarship for high achievement in the program. Kim, being a natural born teacher, also received the Catherine English Memorial Scholarship for Outstanding Accomplishment in Student Teaching, an accolade given to only one person from the music school each year as a senior.
After graduation, Kim began her professional career teaching in the New York public school system. While teaching, she earned her Master of Arts Degree with emphasis in Music Education from Stony Brook University, continued training towards her mastery of strings & piano, and performing in local bands and community orchestras. During this time Kim also adjudicated multiple music festivals such as NYSSMA, LISFA and SCMEA, and maintained a small roster of private students. Her next move was to Los Angeles, CA, where she established a private studio, catering to her own students, as well as contracting with a company who provided music instruction to private and public schools in the area. Kim continued to train, teach and perform regularly until 2005, when she started a family.
In 2010 Kim and her family moved to the Boston MA area. Here she performed with the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra, volunteered at local schools providing preschool children music classes and continued teaching privately for violin, viola, cello and piano students. As her children grew older, Kim decided to enter back into the school systems. Since 2010, she has acquired multiple teaching certifications, including two in Massachusetts, and one in Rhode Island in addition to her New York State certification and directed orchestras for both public and private schools while maintaining an active performance schedule that included multiple orchestras, church ministries and pit bands.
In summer of 2021 Kim and her family relocated to the Sarasota area where she now teaches exclusively for Elizabeth Farrell Music. She hopes to continue sharing her lifelong love of music and the arts through teaching, performing and community outreach.
Kimberly Testa is a classically trained, master educator with over 20 years of teaching experience. Kim began her music journey at the age of 9 in the public school system in New York, playing the violin in the school orchestra. Soon after she added piano and by high school was also playing the cello. Kim knew she wanted to go to college for music, so she chose to fully immerse herself in every music course available, enrolling in Music Theory I & II AP, Chamber Orchestra and even an additional orchestra group to devote more time to playing cello. She filled the rest of her free time with every performance opportunity she could find, including the schools rock band, her own rock band, marching band, and even musical productions as a vocalist and instrumentalist.
Kim was awarded a scholarship to the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, NY where she would receive her Bachelors of Music in Music Education. She began with violin as her principal, but soon added so much piano, that it was almost a dual major. Kim minored in Music Business and was awarded a NAMM scholarship for high achievement in the program. Kim, being a natural born teacher, also received the Catherine English Memorial Scholarship for Outstanding Accomplishment in Student Teaching, an accolade given to only one person from the music school each year as a senior.
After graduation, Kim began her professional career teaching in the New York public school system. While teaching, she earned her Master of Arts Degree with emphasis in Music Education from Stony Brook University, continued training towards her mastery of strings & piano, and performing in local bands and community orchestras. During this time Kim also adjudicated multiple music festivals such as NYSSMA, LISFA and SCMEA, and maintained a small roster of private students. Her next move was to Los Angeles, CA, where she established a private studio, catering to her own students, as well as contracting with a company who provided music instruction to private and public schools in the area. Kim continued to train, teach and perform regularly until 2005, when she started a family.
In 2010 Kim and her family moved to the Boston MA area. Here she performed with the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra, volunteered at local schools providing preschool children music classes and continued teaching privately for violin, viola, cello and piano students. As her children grew older, Kim decided to enter back into the school systems. Since 2010, she has acquired multiple teaching certifications, including two in Massachusetts, and one in Rhode Island in addition to her New York State certification and directed orchestras for both public and private schools while maintaining an active performance schedule that included multiple orchestras, church ministries and pit bands.
In summer of 2021 Kim and her family relocated to the Sarasota area where she now teaches exclusively for Elizabeth Farrell Music. She hopes to continue sharing her lifelong love of music and the arts through teaching, performing and community outreach.
