About the Teacher

Dolores Derksen started her violin studies at the age of 5 in a small public elementary school in Germany. At the age of 8, she moved to Texas, where for the next 10 years she continued her violin studies under Houston Symphony first violinist Sergei Galperin, a former student of Dorothy Delay. Since then, she has made numerous achievements, including earning the concertmaster position as a 6th grader in the Austin Youth Orchestra and winning the 2014 Maurer Award. Throughout her years, Dolores has played in several orchestras, including Regional Orchestra (2008-2014), Texas All-State Orchestra (2012-2014), and Austin Youth Orchestra (2008-2014). She was also the concertmaster of the top orchestra in the Austin Youth Orchestra in 2014. She earned a Bachelors degree in music at Southern Methodist University and studied violin under Emanuel Borok, former concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony. In her free time, Dolores likes to learn languages (such as Japanese and Russian) and paint.

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Dolores started piano at the age of 13 under the tutelage of Saida Kafarova, who studied under the legendary Yakov Milstein and Tatiana Nikolaveya. During her time at university, Dolores studied piano under David Karp, a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music in New York.

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Dolores has 5 years of teaching experience and can teach in both Japanese and English.