Carol received her Bachelor of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music and her Master of Music degree in Performance from the Aaron Copland School of Music at CUNY Queens College, where she was an Adjunct Lecturer and completed its NYS Teacher Certification program (music)grades K-12. Carol received her Suzuki Certificate from the School for Strings in NYC, and is also a licensed Kindermusik® educator. Carol professors have included: Raphael Bronstein at MSM and Ivan Galamian and Sally Thomas at the Juilliard School. Carol Kushner has participated in Master classes given by Nathan Milstein in Switzerland, Yfrah Neaman in England, and Yehudi Menuhin in New York City. Prior to co-founding the Music Institute of Long Island, Carol served on the faculty of the Yuriko Kuronuma Academia in Mexico and CUNY Queensborough. In addition, Carol taught at the Dalton School in Manhattan and was a Professor of Violin at Five Towns College, NY. Carol Kushner soloed with QrquestraTampico in Mexico and with the Albert Einstein Symphony Orchestra in New York Carol has given recitals in Mexico, New York, England, and Germany and was invited to give masterclasses in Mexico and New York. As a freelance musician, Carol has been a member of the Long Island Philharmonic, Queens Symphony Orchestra, St Cecilia Orchestra, Brooklyn Philharmonic, New York Grand Opera. Bellas Artes in Puerto Rico, UNAM in Mexico City and New York Symphonic Ensemble in Japan. Ms Kushner was Artist in Residence at Middlebury College,Vt.. She has performed with: Itzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zuckerman, Janos Starker, Al Jarreau, Art Garfunkel, Moody Blues, YES, Bernadette Peters, Patty LaPone, Stevie Wonder etc. For five years Carol Conducted the Tzu Chi Youth Orchestra of Long Island,(TCYOLI). With TCYOLI, Maestro Kushner performed in California including Disneyland, Colden Auditorium at Queens College, and Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall in NYC. Carol Kushner is a violinist in two string quartets: Bach to Rock and the Holocaust String Quartet (HSQ). In the HSQ she plays on her mother’s violin and relatives’ instruments saved from the Nazis in WWII and restored by Luthier David Herman. Carol was ask to play on the "Violins of Hope" for the Witness Project. These violins were restored by renowned Luthier Amnon Weinstien in Israel. These instruments belonged to victims from concentration camps in WWII. In December 2023 & 2024 during the Israel-Hamas War, Carol performed at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv with a violin lent to her by Weinstein, who restored and dedicated it to Janusz Korczak.
Geri Kushner Violin / Viola
Geri received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College of the City University of New York and a Master of Music degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where she was a teaching assistant. Geri holds both New York State and New York City Teacher certifications for grades K-12. She received her Suzuki Certificate from the School for Strings, with Louise Behrens. She studied with Raphael Bronstein, Ariana Bronne, Patinka Kopec, Burton Kaplan, Sally Thomas, and Yfrah Neaman(in England). Prior to co-founding the Music Institute of Long Island, Geri served in the pre-college division of the Aaron Copland School of Music, directed the summer music program at Hofstra University, and was on the staff at the Dalton School in Manhattan. She is an active performer with the Queens Symphony, and the New Jersey Festival Orchestra, and has performed throughout the metropolitan New York area, England, and Mexico. Geri also has toured Japan with the New York Symphonic Ensemble. Geri has performed with Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel, Jackie Evancho, Weird Al, the Three Irish Tenors, and is a member of the Concert Pops of Long Island. For ten years Geri was on the Music Faculty of Friends Academy School as a violin and viola instructor . Ms Kushner is a member of the Long Island and Mineola Choral Society Orchestra. Geri was a guest solist two times with the Shirenu Choir of Long Island, under the direction of Deborah Tartel. She performed at the Holocaust concert, performing on her mother's violin that survived the Shoah and at again soloist at their Gala concert. Carol and Geri Kushner are violinists in two string quartets: Bach to Rock and the Holocaust String Quartet.(HSQ). In their HSQ they play on their mother’s violin and relatives’ instruments saved from the Nazis in WW2 and restored by Luthier David Herman. The Kushner sisters performed at the Witness Project on violins belonging to victims from concentration camps, mainly Terezin, that were restored by Amnon Weinstein in Israel. Some of Geri’s students have attended Harvard Law, Cornell, Williams, Georgetown, Dartmouth, Bryn Mawr and University of Chicago.