Faculty
The Suzuki flute world is like a family, and Institute Co-Directors Mary Bassett Shemon and Zara Lawler did much of their Suzuki teacher training together, and have been planning this institute ever since. Among Mary and Zara’s Suzuki teacher trainers and mentors is the dynamic and inspiring Meret Bitticks, a treasured faculty member of the UMKC Suzuki Flute Institute.
Mary Bassett Shemon
Co-Director
Mary Bassett Shemon (she/her) frequently performs with the Kansas City Symphony as a substitute flutist and piccoloist and has also performed with the Saint Louis Symphony, the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, and the Missouri Symphony. Ms. Shemon previously held the position of flute 2/piccolo with the Florida Grand Opera and the Palm Beach Symphony. Mary maintains a robust private flute studio in the Kansas City area where she helps students of all ages discover their passion for music. Mary is President of the Heart of America Suzuki Association, where she organizes continuing education events for Suzuki teachers across 5 states, as well as an annual Winter Workshop for violin, viola, cello, flute, and early childhood students, and is on the board of the Kansas City Flute Association, where she recently organized an online masterclass series for flutists across Kansas and Missouri to connect and learn during the pandemic.
Mary received her Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University and her Master of Music degree from the University of Southern California. Her teachers included Richard Graef, Carolyn Hoyer, Walfrid Kujala, Jennifer Nitchman, Mark Sparks, Kimberly Valerio, and Jim Walker. Her Suzuki teacher trainers have been Meret Bitticks, David Gerry, Noelle Perrin-Bryson, Wendy Stern, and Kelly Williamson.
Zara Lawler
Co-Director
Zara Lawler (she/her) creates performances that combine music with theater, dance and story. In 2024, she directed and performed A Tree Grows In Brooklyn: immersive song cycle. Her project Symmetrical Lives, a music and dance film of the Bach Suite in B Minor, with violinist Maja Cerar and choreographer C. Neil Parsons, premiered as part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Balcony Bar from Home and premiered as a live staged performance in NYC in 2022. Past highlights include the US premiere of Il Cerchio Tagliato dei Suoni, Salvatore Sciarrino’s work for 104 flutists, directed by Lawler at the Guggenheim Museum, a Flute Jamboree directed by Lawler at the Kennedy Center, leading the Flute Ensemble at the Suzuki Association of the America’s conference in 2024, and releasing two albums of music for flute and percussion recorded with Parker Joy Fadoul. Zara spent three years as Associate Principal flute of the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and eight years touring the US with the innovative music and theater troupe Tales & Scales.
Zara studied at the Juilliard School with Carol Wincenc and Sam Baron. She teaches at Manhattan School of Music Precollege and Silver Music, a Suzuki music school in New York City. Her Suzuki teacher trainers have been David Gerry, Wendy Stern, Noelle Perrin-Bryson and Meret Bitticks.
Meret Bitticks
Faculty
Altus Flutes artist Meret Bitticks (she/her) maintains an active schedule as a soloist, chamber musician, and clinician in the U.S. and abroad while on faculty at the Music Institute of Chicago, Lake Forest College, and DePaul University. She joined Trio Chicago and Friends for international concert tours, including the United Arab Emirates and Australia. A passionate and enthusiastic educator, Meret is a registered Suzuki Flute Teacher Trainer and in 2013 became the first flutist to receive a Certificate of Achievement for excellence in Suzuki instruction from the Suzuki Association of the Americas. Her first book, Working With Young Flutists, An Educator’s Guide is published by F-flat Books and is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and from the publisher. A former volunteer at music camps in Haiti, Meret serves on the advisory council for BLUME Haiti, an organization that promotes leadership through music education. She studied under Mary Stolper at DePaul University and Katherine Borst Jones at the Ohio State University to earn her Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees, respectively. In 2009 she traveled to Matsumoto, Japan to study with Suzuki Flute Method founder, Toshio Takahashi, and completed additional Suzuki training with David Gerry, Jerilee Kechley, Kim Lorimier, Kenichi Ueda, and Kelly Williamson.