TRAVIS CARPENTER - Violin, Viola and Cello, Banjo (Croton and Mohegan Lake)

Travis Carpenter has enjoyed teaching strings for nine years and counting.  In 2007, he graduated from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam with a Bachelor's in Music Education and a Certificate of Performance.  He taught middle school and elementary orchestra in Whitesboro, NY from 2007 to 2012, and he also played viola in the Utica Symphony Orchestra and other regional groups during that time.

In 2012 he returned briefly to his native Burlingon, VT, where he began teaching private string lessons and became involved in community music organizations.  He played with the University of Vermont Symphony Orchestra, the Burlington Civic Symphony (performing at the Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center in Stowe, VT), and the me/2 Orchestra, which seeks to spread awareness and erase the stigma of living with mental illness.  He also arranged several compositions for me/2 and acted as its assistant conductor.

He moved to Ithaca, NY in 2013, where he continued to teach privately, and joined the Ithaca Community Orchestra.  In addition to leading the viola section, he was appointed as its assistant conductor and took on the role of public relations manager, writing press releases, doing radio interviews, and composing program notes.  He began teaching lessons at Studios on the Square in Horseheads, NY in 2015, working with violin, viola, cello, and bass students from ages 5 to adult.

In addition to his classically oriented activities, Travis has played the 5-string banjo for several years, playing bluegrass and old-time music.  He has attended the Falling Waters Music Camp and Winter Village Bluegrass Festival, both held in Ithaca, and also took remote lessons with banjo master Tony Trischka.  He looks forward to joining the folk music scene in the Hudson Valley.