Krista is both a violist and violinist residing in St Paul, Minnesota.  She
and her husband Jeremy Swider (also a violinist and violist), are featured
annually on the
Bluefin Bay Concert Series in Tofte, Minnesota.  Krista is
the first violinist in the
String Quartet con Passione, a chamber group that
performs in and around the Twin Cities.  She also serves as violist for the
Red Rose Trio, a con Passione Ensembles group composed of violin, viola
and cello.  She studied both violin performance and pedagogy with
Andrzej Grabiec in the Moore's School of Music at the University of
Houston, earning a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance.  Krista has
also studied with Sally O'Reilly, Mary West, Aaron Janse, Leonard Posner,
Jennifer Bourianoff and Beth Blackerby.  In addition to studying with
these teachers, Krista performed on a master class given by Donald
Weilerstein.

Krista has taught for eighteen years now and has a thriving studio where
she enjoys teaching varied age groups violin, viola and/or chamber music.  
Krista is a former faculty member at St Joseph’s School of Music in St
Paul, MN, Minnesota Valley Academy in Burnsville, MN, K and S
Conservatory in Woodbury, MN, and Sagemont Centre for the Arts in
Houston, TX.  
Student Rates:

$21/30 min lesson
$31.50/45 min lesson
$42/60 min lesson

Rates for String Chamber
Music:

$12/person - 60 min
Quartet

$15/person - 60 minute
Trio session

$20/person - 60 minute
Duet Session

I charge tuition for four 9
week terms over the
school year and one 8
week term in the summer.
Yahoo! Local Reviews of Krista's Studio

By: Happy Parent (5 stars)
Do you ever wish that your child looked forward to their violin
lesson each week and left smiling and feeling inspired? After my son
joined Krista’s music studio a year and a half ago this has been our
experience. Krista is a gifted teacher who creatively incorporates
multiple teaching methods to explain musical concepts and
passages, as well as to help solve technical problems. The teacher-
student relationship has flourished because of Krista’s skill in
teaching at my son’s developmental level. Her ability to incorporate
a sense of humor in teaching makes the lesson time a fun experience
and enables her to build rapport with him. She inspires my son to
work hard by communicating excitement about the challenging
music she selects for him and also by guiding his weekly practice
goals to optimize his progress. Krista is committed to nurturing our
son’s musical development by providing him the opportunity to
participate in multiple recitals as well as a studio-sponsored master’s
class. We feel truly blessed that our son has blossomed as a violinist
during his time at Krista’s studio. In addition, we feel that his life
has been enriched by spending time each week with such a
phenomenal woman. We highly recommend Krista as a teacher and
have no doubt that your story will mirror ours if you choose to join
Krista’s studio.


By: Xiaoling (5 stars)
Krista is a great teacher. I have studied violin with her since last
October. After seven monthes, I feel my playing improved a lot.
Krista always concentrates on helping me with one or two technics
at a time, over time, my playing techniques get built up and have
been improved without too much difficulties. She also made the
learning process being fun and relax, sometimes I came to lesson
with frustration of not being able to playing a piece very well, she
always points out the problem and find a way that works best for me
to practice and to improve it, her lesson is a relief for my
frustration. It is a great joy of seeing myself being able to play those
beatiful music and getting better and better. I feel so lucky to have
her as my teacher, I highly recommend her.

By: mom (5 stars)
This is a great music studio! Krista is a caring and dedicated teacher
who goes the extra mile for her students. Highly recommended!
Click on the player below to
hear an audio sample of
Krista playing Beethoven.