Erika Lord-Castillo
Erika Lord-Castillo (violin, viola) serves as Interim Director of the SIUE Suzuki Program, where she has been a faculty teacher since 2009 and became a Suzuki Violin Teacher Trainer in 2021. Originally from Iowa City, Iowa, she earned Bachelor degrees in Violin Performance and Literature, Sciences and Arts from the University of Iowa, followed by a Master's in Music Education from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Erika completed long-term Suzuki Violin training with Vera McCoy-Sulentic and additional teacher training with trainers including Michelle Higa George, Moshe Neumann, Judy Bossuat, Nancy Jackson, Christie Felsing, William Preucil Sr., and Alice Joy Lewis. She received the Suzuki Association Certificate of Achievement Level 1 in 2015.
Her teaching experience spans multiple settings, from elementary through high school orchestra in the Ferguson-Florissant School District in North St. Louis County to directing Corvallis Youth Symphony's Elementary Strings Program in Oregon. At SIUE, she has served as director of both the Summer String Camp and the Suzuki Viola Camerata, part of the larger SIUE Suzuki Tour Group.
As a performer, Erika has appeared with numerous community orchestras in Iowa and Oregon, the St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Illinois Symphony. She is a regular member of both the Edwardsville Symphony and the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Orchestra. Her violin studies were with Annette-Barbara Vogel, Katie Wolfe, and Lenora Anop.
Erika is an active contributor to the field through scholarship and presentations. She has presented her Master's thesis at the American String Teachers Association national conference, regularly contributes to the American Suzuki Journal, and has presented at the Suzuki Association of the Americas Conference. She serves on the board of Suzuki Harmony STL, a non profit which aims to provide the opportunity of Suzuki study to students in under-resourced neighborhoods of St. Louis.
