About Us

Heather Bissell, MM. MEd. –President. Drawing on decades of experience in music vck, performance, and administration, our founder brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the association. Having founded multiple Suzuki schools and held leadership roles in music organizations such as the North Shore Music Teachers Guild, MA Suzuki Festival, The Hartt School of Music, and Winchester Community Music School, her passion for nurturing young musicians and building a strong musical community is evident in every endeavor. She currently resides in Sarasota where she owns and directs the KDS: Integrated Piano Academy and the FL Summer Piano Institute.

Stephanie Tropepe-Buquo.–Vice President. Stephanie, a native of South Florida, started her music journey as a Suzuki student. Her favorite part of the Suzuki experience was performing for community events. Stephanie graduated with her Bachelor of Music, magna cum laude, and Masters of Music from Florida State University, studying under Karen Clarke and Corinne Stillwell Bowman, respectively. Stephanie continued further education at Indiana University String Program Pedagogy Workshop with Mimi Zweig as well as registered classes with the Suzuki Association of the Americas, Paul Rolland String Pedagogy, and IMTEX. Stephanie has a thriving violin studio at the Diane Bish Center for Music and the Arts in Fort Lauderdale, FL. She has two young sons studying piano and violin. Her focus as a music educator is developing and encouraging a love for music in her students.

Sarah Neham Salz.–Treasurer. Sarah has been the founder and director of the Suzuki Piano School of South Florida since 1990. From 1992 to 2002, Sarah alongside her late husband, Simon Salz directed the University of Miami Suzuki Institute. In 2000, she created and currently directs the Young Musicians’ Camp, which provides thousands of children from ages 7 to 16 with a fun and educational music experience in the summer. Sarah holds formal training in the Suzuki Piano Method under Haruko Karaoke, co-founder of the Suzuki Piano Method, and with Suzuki Teacher Trainer Bruce Anderson. She is also a certified teacher trainer by the Suzuki Association of the Americas. Sarah’s Teaching Philosophy reflects Dr. Suzuki’s words: “First for the love of the child, second for the love of teaching, and third, for the love of the music that is taught to the child, but the child always comes first.”

Natasha Marsalli.–Secretary. Starting with private violin lessons at age three, Ms. Marsalli has developed as a successful performer of solo, chamber, and orchestral literature. Following her solo debut with the Naples Philharmonic at age 14, Ms. Marsalli has gone on to win top prizes in competitions across the state of Florida. She has studied under Patrick Neal of the Naples Philharmonic, Carol Ruzicka of the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Corinne Stillwell of the Florida State University. Ms. Marsalli holds degrees in violin performance and music education from the Florida State University. An active performer, she currently holds positions with orchestras across the Southeast including Mobile Symphony Orchestra, Pensacola Symphony Orchestra, and Sinfonia Gulf Coast, Among others. Ms. Marsalli is state-certified to teach K-12 music with additional certificates in the Orff-Schulwerk and Suzuki methods. She is the Executive Director of the North Florida Suzuki School at Music Lesson Express in Tallahassee, FL, where she supervises a staff of thirty instructors, develops education curricula, and teaches private and group classes. Her students have won state music competitions, attended nationally- acclaimed music festivals, and gone on to have successful careers as music educators and performers throughout the country.

Valeria Frege.–Website/PR. A native of Cochabamba, Bolivia, Valeria has performed with many orchestras and chamber music ensembles in Bolivia, Cuba, Chile, Italy and different states in the United States.
Valeria’s teaching career began at 19 years old as a private instructor and orchestra conductor at the Cochabamba Symphony Foundation. She also taught violin lessons at her alma mater, Eduardo Laredo Institute, for 3 years before relocating to Tampa in 2012.
Valeria has taught at the Patel Conservatory, Queen of All Saints Academy, and Prodigy, a project of The Florida Orchestra. She has also served as a judge for the Florida Federation of Music Clubs.  She currently teaches at the Tampa Bay Music Academy, the Centre for Music, Worship, and the Arts at Idlewild Baptist Church, and at her private home studio. Her students are actively involved in their school orchestras as well as the Tampa Metropolitan Youth Orchestra program. Many of them have also earned positions in All County and All State orchestras. Valeria has registered Suzuki training up to Unit 5, as well as Paul Rolland Pedagogy.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Universidad del Valle, and a Master of Music with concentrations in Music Performance and Chamber Music studies from the University of South Florida, under the tutelage of Dr. Carolyn Stuart (violin) and John T. Posadas (viola).