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PROFESSIONAL PROFILE
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A former actress and model as well as a musician and a composer, Stephanie Quinn has a list of professional credits that spans many pages. Presently, she is an active free-lance violinist, performing with many of Chicago's musical groups, both classical, as well as contemporary dance bands.
Ms. Quinn is also in demand as a private instructor for violin, piano, and frequently serves on juries of music competitions. Her music career highlights include a Carnegie Hall appearance with the St. Cecilia Choir, recording a solo violin/vocal album inside the Great Pyramid in Egypt, meeting the Dalai Lama on his 59th birthday, and performing for fundraisers for the Tibetan cause, conducting her ballet composition, Saqqara's Story, inspired by her night in the Pyramid, and serving as Concertmaster of the Spoleto Festival Orchestra in Italy.
Stephanie's music education began with William Browning, pianist, Carl Freidberg's premiere student, who was a pupil of Clara Schumann and Brahms. His colleague, violin teacher George Perlman, was Ms. Quinn's first major violin teacher. Stephanie spent most of her childhood in a practice room, and at 17, was awarded the Merit Scholarship to attend Eastman School of Music, accepted as both a piano and violin major, studying with Charles Castleman. Following Eastman, she studied with Felix Galimir of the Juilliard School and Gerardo Ribeiro of Northwestern University, as well as master classes with Itzhak Perlman, Arnold Steinhardt, Malcolm Frager and others. Ms. Quinn has recorded and interviewed in New York on WBAI radio.
While in New York City, Ms. Quinn also became an activist, lending her leadership and musical talents to pioneer the Music for Peace programs in Israel. She applied her innovative sound therapy techniques to build communication between Jews and Palestinians. This technology was also successful increasing concentration among emotionally challenged teenagers at the Robert Stevenson High School in New York in 1987. A Peace Concert featuring the newly formed band of Jews and Palestinians, performed at the Dead Sea in March 1987, in honor and dedication to Ms. Quinn for bringing them all together to demonstrate peace and cooperation.
As a New York based musician, Ms. Quinn was discovered on the Carnegie Hall stage by Bert Stern and Henry Wolf, who spotted her from the audience. She then became a model and actress, appeared on the David Letterman Show four times, 15 national magazine covers; she modeled for over 35 television commercials, and tiny parts in two feature films, Classified Love, and Wise Guys.
Ms. Quinn was the first Gerber's baby food Mommy to be photographed, , the first woman to appear as a couple in a liquor advertisement, (Hennessy). In addition, she was Bert Stern's Come-Back Model, and one of Esquire Magazine Director Henry Wolf's favorite models. Ms. Quinn is currently writing a book of her memoirs; she has complete 102 vignettes, entitled Modeling, Music, and Men.
Her gifts for capturing attention are coupled with her talents for paying attention - to the sounds and needs of her community. Ms. Quinn is a gifted teacher, as well as an experienced public speaker. After many travels to Egypt, Israel, Japan, and Europe, she returned to her native Illinois, with her two children, and currently resides in Wilmette, IL.
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