Testimonials
Mrs Trudy is a really great teacher, she's great with kids and adults! I definitely recommend you go there. She really helped me with my complex schedule with working and needing to travel for an hour to get there. She also is really in touch with her community and is able to get live performances for her students quite often. Great for violin or piano.
Your performance and presence added so much to the holiday season, and we appreciate your help in making these festivities such a success. It was kind of you to take the time to be with us, and I hope you know how much joy your contribution brought to everyone.
The President joins me in sending our very best wishes for the New Year.
The President joins me in sending our very best wishes for the New Year.
Barbara Bush
Former First Lady
My daughter was a student of The Fleming Academy from 3rd grade through her senior year in high school. It was a wonderful experience, both for my daughter and my wife and I, watching her grow musically every day. Trudy is absolutely wonderful, bringing out the best in her students with her kindness, patience and professionalism. Thank you, Fleming Academy!
My instructor Mrs Trudy is a true goddess for dealing with me between being sick or tripping over air and being injured and currently moving she worked with me to make sure I didn't fall behind. Also, the patience training me on my dream to play the violin. Trudy you and your husband Jeff are truly wonderful people. Thank you Jeff for your patience in trying to teach me how to play the guitar but it looks like my passion is the violin. I can't thank you enough in teaching me how to play the violin it just go to show you are never to old to learn.
Mrs. Trudy is 100% invested in the positive development and growth of her students. Our daughter loves her lessons! We are thrilled that she is receiving such top-notch violin instruction and also developing a love of music that will enrich her life. The Suzuki method is really amazing, for both students and parents. We feel very lucky to have access to a program like the Fleming Academy of Performing Arts.
Miss Trudy taught my children for several years. They were able to enjoy performing in concerts in many different venues, gained confidence in front of an audience and advanced quickly (when they practiced). We only stopped lessons because we moved too far to commute for lessons. I would recommend Miss Trudy and the Academy to anyone, esp. if you have a child with special needs. Miss Trudy is very patient and works well with children of special needs.
Trudy is the best. I came to her as an adult never having touched a violin. She is incredibly talented, kind, and patient. She definitely put me at ease. Listen to her students play, and you will see she has dedicated her life to music and teaching.
While working with Miss Trudy and the Fleming Academy, Ruby has learned how to be patient, listen and follow directions, work collaboratively with other children, as well as the complex skill of playing the violin . . . She loves the concerts . . . Ruby and I love the parental involvement that Miss Trudy fosters between parent and child in regards to developing emerging violin skills. We cannot thank Miss Trudy and the Fleming Academy enough for enriching our lives with a joy and a love for music!
Tracy Lewis
Parent
Amazing!!! I really loved that concert and the violins, piano, and cello!! It was breathtaking. My favorite song they played was Amazing Grace. Thank you for the performance!!!!
Lalitha Sengsommaly
Parent
Interlochen Arts Academy says Trudy Fleming is “a leading authority on curriculum development for visually impaired students.” She “incorporates teaching techniques and methodology that have been adapted from the techniques of Dr. Shinichi Suzuki for special needs students.”
I have found the Fleming Academy to be of exceptionally high caliber. The teaching is a fine example of the methods and philosophy that Dr. Suzuki has given us. Trudy is using the real strengths of the Method by providing her students with high standards, memory development through repetition, individual and class discipline and the nourishment of the person of each child. Besides using the strengths of the Method as it comes to us from Japan, she is providing music theory and reading skills classes so that her students may fit well into the American musical system.
Trudy has found a creative way to solve several of the technical problems that all violin teachers face by developing wooden guides that she places on the instruments. This is a credit to her creativity. I followed the use carefully through the stages of development as she gradually removes the guides. The normal position problems seem to have been entirely avoided with no ill after-effects.
Her students have shown themselves to be very strong as performers and competent players of the violin. I found myself very inspired by her teaching and feel that this program will be a model for other Suzuki programs to follow.
Trudy has found a creative way to solve several of the technical problems that all violin teachers face by developing wooden guides that she places on the instruments. This is a credit to her creativity. I followed the use carefully through the stages of development as she gradually removes the guides. The normal position problems seem to have been entirely avoided with no ill after-effects.
Her students have shown themselves to be very strong as performers and competent players of the violin. I found myself very inspired by her teaching and feel that this program will be a model for other Suzuki programs to follow.
Craig Timmerman
Suzuki Associate of the Americas
When my son was five years old, we lived within earshot of the Fleming Academy. One morning, while getting ready for kindergarten, he declared, “When I start school, I want to start violin lessons with Miss Trudy.” When it came time to talk about Christmas presents, his wish was simple: “I want a violin so I can start lessons after Christmas.” His major gift that year was a tiny 1/8-size violin. He was thrilled. In January of his kindergarten year, he began lessons with Miss Trudy. Those lessons were more than just an introduction to music; they became a cornerstone of his growth in many aspects of life. Watching him learn, perform, and develop was a gift for all of us.The foundational habits he learned from Miss Trudy served him well as he progressed through school and his music journey. In junior high, he suggested it was time for a new challenge: a musical summer camp. Having learned that Fleming Academy was the first Suzuki group invited to Interlochen Arts Academy, he knew he wanted to go back. We made it happen, and it became another pivotal growth experience.
College was always going to involve a music major. Today, with both undergraduate and graduate degrees, many certifications through the Suzuki Association of the Americas, and over two decades of teaching experience, he teaches at The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, where he is head of the Suzuki Violin Department. He is also the assistant to the CEO of the International Suzuki Association.
Miss Trudy’s extraordinary care, patience, and guidance in those early years were nothing short of transformative. She approached each lesson with unwavering dedication, adapting her teaching to fit my son’s unique needs and fostering not only his technical skills but also his love for music. Her encouragement and belief in his potential set the tone for everything that followed in his musical journey. The time and effort she invested in him laid a foundation of discipline, resilience, and joy that carried him through all the challenges of a musical career. We are forever indebted to her for the countless hours she spent shaping not only his playing but his character. The lessons he learned at Fleming Academy were not just about music—they were about life, and for that, we will always be profoundly thankful.
Miss Trudy’s extraordinary care, patience, and guidance in those early years were nothing short of transformative. She approached each lesson with unwavering dedication, adapting her teaching to fit my son’s unique needs and fostering not only his technical skills but also his love for music. Her encouragement and belief in his potential set the tone for everything that followed in his musical journey. The time and effort she invested in him laid a foundation of discipline, resilience, and joy that carried him through all the challenges of a musical career. We are forever indebted to her for the countless hours she spent shaping not only his playing but his character. The lessons he learned at Fleming Academy were not just about music—they were about life, and for that, we will always be profoundly thankful.
David Van Heyningen
Parent