Lori Hammel
Violin Faculty

Lori Hammel began playing the violin at age three. She came from a musical family and has  enjoyed sharing the gift of music with others through her teaching and performing experiences.  One of the highlights over the years has been playing chamber music with her mother, father,  and three children in an annual family recital on Jekyll Island.  

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Ms. Hammel earned her Bachelors degree in violin performance and music education at Ithaca  College and earned her Master’s degree in performance and Suzuki pedagogy at East Carolina University (ECU). While at ECU, she had the privilege of holding the position of Concert Master, winning the Concerto Competition and performing The Khachaturian Violin Concerto with the ECU symphony orchestra. 

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During her career, Ms. Hammel has played in various symphonies including The Wilmington  Symphony, The Orchestra of Northern New York and The North Carolina Symphony. She is  currently is a member of the Asheville Symphony and has been for 24 years. She also enjoys playing in chamber music groups, small ensemble groups, and most recently playing with the praise band at church. 

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In 2016, Ms. Hammel collaborated with pianist, Renee Allsbrook, and released a CD titled, Call it Joy. It was a compilation of Renee’s original compositions for piano, voice, and violin. 

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Ms. Hammel is a strong advocate for the Suzuki approach of learning the violin. In the Suzuki  method, the student traditionally begins lessons at the young age of 3, 4, or 5. Students initially learn by rote; note reading is learned after the posture, good tone and basics are established.  

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The parent assumes an important role as the home teacher and is expected to come to the  child’s lessons to learn how to work with the child. This approach of learning music is based on  the concept of learning a native language. The child learns by hearing repetitions of words at a young age, they learn one little word at a time and continue to build a vocabulary as they  progress, they learn through much repetition, and the parent provides reinforcement through an atmosphere of love, support, and positive encouragement.  

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Currently Ms. Hammel lives in Haywood County, North Carolina. She has been teaching violin and maintained her own private Suzuki violin studio for over 25 years. She loves working with young students, helping them learn to play the violin and sharing the joy of music with others.