Faculty
Faculty
Along with pedagogical skills for working effectively with students of all levels and different learning styles, the SAA emphasizes teacher development opportunities in all areas of parent and student support and engagement. The SAA has formulated requirements to ensure high standards for teacher training, and to make possible the recognition of such training.
The Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA) is committed to Dr. Suzuki's belief that every child can be educated and that high ability can be nurtured in every child. With this commitment in mind, the SAA has designed a comprehensive Teacher Development Program to assist teachers in creating the best possible learning environment for their students, an environment that puts a priority on the development of fine character along with excellent ability and musicianship.
All Amarillo College Suzuki Program private lesson faculty have completed levels of specialized SAA training, and are encouraged to continue regular continuing education opportunities. Many faculty also have state teaching certificates and other varied string pedagogy and educational training.
Beverly de la Bretonne
Music Director, Violin Instructor and Ensemble Coach
- Suzuki Association of the Americas Certified Teacher Trainer
- Suzuki Violin Books 1-10 training with John Kendall and William Starr.
- Suzuki Principles in Action (SPA) with Sharon Miller
- Mark O'Connor Method Certified Teacher
- Amarillo College Professor Emeritus, 2013
- Bachelor of Music Ed, University Louisiana Monroe
- Master of Music Ed, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville
Beverly de la Bretonne retired in 2004 after twenty-five years as a full-time faculty member of the Amarillo College Music Department. She directed the AC Chamber Orchestra, taught Freshman Theory and Ear Training, String Methods Class and was the violin/viola and flute teacher. Mrs. de la Bretonne continues part-time on the music faculty at Amarillo College. A founding member of the Amarillo College Suzuki String Program in 1979, she is also currently Music Director of the AC Suzuki Program, a registered Suzuki teacher-trainer, teaches a full violin studio, group classes and is frequently invited to teach in workshops around the country. She has been listed as an outstanding teacher in Who's Who in American Colleges.
A native of Monroe, Louisiana, her major areas of study were violin, flute and piano as she obtained her B.M.E. degree from University Louisiana Monroe. She was a Music Department Honor Graduate and was listed in Who's Who in American Colleges. She received her M.M.E. degree (studying Suzuki Pedagogy with John Kendall) from Southern Illinois UniversityEdwardsville in 1969. After graduation, she was invited to coordinate the John Kendalls Suzuki Program at the University. After ten years in this position, she moved to Amarillo to take the position at AC.
Mrs. de la Bretonne is a member of the Amarillo Symphony and the AC Faculty Trio/Quartet. She performs frequently in the community and in her church music program, and she is actively involved in community youth education programs, coaching the second violin section of the Amarillo Symphony Youth Orchestra, and performs with a quintet from the Amarillo Symphony for third grade students in local public schools.
Camille Day Nies
Amarillo College Department of Music & Theatre Chair
Professor of Music at Amarillo College
Suzuki Program Viola Instructor and Ensemble Coach
- Suzuki Every Child Can! (ECC) with Sue Baer
- Suzuki Violin Books 1-8 training with Beverly de la Bretonne, Marilyn O'Boyle, Stevie Sandven, Joanne Bath & Doris Preucil
- Suzuki Viola Books 1-6, 8 training with Elizabeth Stuen-Walker
- Suzuki Viola Book 9 training with William Preucil
- Suzuki Principles in Action (SPA) with Sharon Miller
- Mark O'Connor Certified Teacher
- Bachelor of Music Business, WTAMU
- Master of Music Performance (voice), WTAMU
Amarillo native Camille Day Nies is Chair of the Music and Theatre Department at Amarillo College (AC), and Professor of Music, where she teaches viola, string ensembles, and music appreciation. She has coordinated and taught in AC’s Suzuki Program since 2000.
Nies has been a violist with the Amarillo Symphony since she was 15, serves as principal violist in the Amarillo Opera orchestra, and enjoys performing with Chamber Music Amarillo, Amarillo College faculty, and various community ensembles. As a vocalist, she performed roles with Amarillo Opera, soprano soloist in the Mozart Requiem and Haydn Lord Nelson Mass, featured as a soloist with the Amarillo Symphony, and is an alum of the outdoor music drama TEXAS. Nies has also composed and performed incidental music for area high school One Act Play productions.
An avid proponent of equitable, high-quality music education, Nies’ educational experience includes teaching orchestras and choirs in Amarillo area schools and directing community-wide summer youth musical productions. She is a member of the Amarillo Symphony Board of Directors, coaches the Amarillo Symphony Youth Orchestra, and regularly presents community outreach performances and lectures. She was the first community college representative on the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP) Board, and currently serves on the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) Commission for Community College Accreditation and site visitation team, Texas Association of Music Schools (TAMS) committees, and is a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA) and Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA).
A product of the synergy between education and the arts in the Texas Panhandle, Nies studied with Harrington Quartet violists Amy Brandfonbrener, Ted Allred, and Joanna Mendoza. She earned a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance and a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Business with an emphasis in viola and voice from West Texas A&M (West Texas State) University. Her Suzuki pedagogical training includes study with Elizabeth Stuen-Walker, Beverly de la Bretonne, William Preucil, Doris Preucil, Joanne Bath, Stevie Sandven, and Marilyn O'Boyle.
View Camille's webpage for her complete biography.
Homero Campos
Guitar Instructor and Group Leader, Ensemble
- Guitar Instructor and Group Leader, Ensemble
- Suzuki Every Child Can! (ECC) with Beverly de la Bretonne
- Suzuki Guitar Book 1 training with David Madsen
- Suzuki Guitar Book 2 training with David Madsen
- Master of Arts - Music Composition, West Texas A&M University
- Bachelor of Music, Musicians Institute
Homero Campos began teaching guitar at Amarillo College in 2007, emphasizing a mixture of classical and jazz styles in building student skill levels. A versatile and active performer, he is called on for jazz, rock, blues, classical, fusion, theatre, country and folk work in the Amarillo area. Building on a long history of private teaching, Homero has trained in the Suzuki method with teacher-trainer David Madsen, and began the popular guitar component of the Amarillo College Suzuki Program in 2014.
Tiffany McDaniel
Music Department and Suzuki Administrative Assistant
- Suzuki Violin Instructor, Violin Group, Ensemble Coach, Workshop Coordinator
- Suzuki Every Child Can! (ECC) with Beverly de la Bretonne
- Suzuki Violin Books 1-4 training with Beverly de la Bretonne
- Suzuki Principles in Action (SPA) with Sharon Miller
- Mark O'Connor Method Certified Teacher
- Bachelor of Music Business, West Texas A&M University
- Associates in Applied Music, Amarillo College
Tiffany Jackson McDaniel began playing the violin at age 3 in the Amarillo College Suzuki String Program, founded by the late Suzanne Grooms and Helen Gerald. Throughout her career, she has studied with Beverly de la Bretonne and Annie Chalex-Boyle. She was a member of the TMEA All-State Orchestra for 2 years, a 7-year member of the TMEA All-Region Orchestra, a four-year winner of the National Orchestra Award (High School Division) at Tascosa High School, and won "Outstanding" marks at both the Greater Southwest Music Festival and UIL Solo Competition for 7 years. Tiffany was also a featured fiddler and played mandolin in "TEXAS: A Musical Drama"/"Texas: Legacies" in Palo Duro Canyon for 6 years, and was a member of the touring branch of the show, "Texas Express."
Tiffany currently teaches Suzuki violin in the Amarillo College Suzuki Program, where she received training from Beverly de la Bretonne, and serves as administrative assistant for both the Music and Theatre department and the Suzuki program. She performs regularly with the Amarillo Symphony, of which she has been a member since 1998, is the orchestra manager and is a violinist in the Amarillo Opera and enjoys serving on the board for the Amarillo Master Chorale as well as the Bonham Music Association. Tiffany received her Bachelors of Music Business degree from WTAMU.
When she isn't playing or teaching, she enjoys frequenting comic cons, baking, playing Animal Crossing, theorizing about when the next Taylor Swift album will come out, spending time with her husband, Chris, hanging out with her daughter, Hazel, and keeping up with their rambunctious dogs, Captain Crunch (C.C.) and Pearl.
Bethany Mueller
Cello Instructor and Group Leader, Ensemble
- Suzuki Every Child Can! (ECC) with Trina Carey Hodgson
- Suzuki Cello Book 1 with Susan Gagnon
- Bachelor of Music Technology, West Texas A&M University
- Master of Music Performance (cello), West Texas A&M University
Bethany Mueller is a cellist born and raised in Amarillo, Texas. Thanks to music education in public schools, Bethany was introduced to the cello. After high school, she worked at a local music store where she met her husband and started her family; in 2018, she made the decision to go back to college to pursue a music degree. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Music Technology in 2022 and a master’s in Cello Performance in 2024.
Her teachers throughout her life have given her a sense of belonging in the music community and a drive to create a fulfilling future for herself and her family. Bethany enjoys playing cello everywhere she can and spending time at home with her husband, daughter, and pets. She’s looking forward to passing on a legacy of teaching the cello to the next generation.
Additional Group Teachers
Joanne Fryml
Rhythm and Movement
Joanne Fryml is a vocalist and former choral director as well as a fellow Suzuki parent with two sons in the Suzuki violin program. She received a bachelors degree in choral music education from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, where she met her husband, AC Choral Director Nathaniel Fryml. She taught high school choral music and private voice in South Carolina before moving to Los Angeles for her husband's schooling and taking time off from teaching to raise her three boys.
She has sung in community choirs in South Carolina and California, and she maintains an active presence in the Amarillo Master Chorale when her young familys schedule allows for it. She developed a love for music at a young age and has sung in church choirs since the age of 5. She now enjoys serving in the music ministry at her church as well as listening to jazz, standards from the 1940s, classic Broadway showtunes, and movie soundtracks. She loves to cook, swim, pretend to be a movie critic, and she can often be found drinking re-warmed coffee while trying to keep up with her three boys.