Madison Orchestra
Jeff W.
String Bass
Jeff is a graduate of UW-Madison's School of Music. His studies began with his first teacher, Rob Junceau III, continuing Into college, where he studied under Richard Davis for five years. There he performed with Davis's Black Music Ensemble, UW-Jazz Little Band and as principal bassist for UW-Madison's Symphony Orchestra. Jeff's music reflects a broad application of classical and jazz influences along with almost all other genres of music. Whether it be Metal, Rock, Blues, Bluegrass, Funk, Jazz or Rap, Jeff has had professional playing experience in all and is willing to share any knowledge. Besides teaching he is working full time in 6 various bands and composes music for film. He recently won Madison Area Music Award's best bassist of the year for 2012.
Zou Zou R.
Cello
Zou Zou Robidoux is a Wisconsin-based cellist working across classical and contemporary genres. She recently completed a Master of Music at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she was a Paul Collins Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellow. Prior to her graduate studies, Zou Zou lived in Montreal from 2016-2023. During this time, she performed throughout Canada in band, musical theater, and orchestral settings, including performances at the Montreal Jazz Festival, National Arts Centre, Theatre Calgary, and Vancouver Folk Festival. As a studio musician in the Montreal scene, Zou Zou collaborated with members of Arcade Fire, The Weather Station, and U.S. Girls, and was featured as a cellist and string arranger on two of Basia Bulat’s studio albums, The Garden and Are You In Love?
An avid collaborator, Zou Zou has performed as a chamber musician with Midsummer’s Music, LunART, Bach Before Bedtime, Mr. Chair, among others. In 2022, Zou Zou founded ChamberFest at the Spring Green General Store (ChamberFest), a chamber music festival committed to bringing diverse and engaging programming to the Wisconsin River Valley Community. For ChamberFest, Zou Zou collaborated with actors from American Players Theatre for narrated children’s concerts. As an orchestral musician, Zou Zou has worked with the Reno Philharmonic, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Pronto Musica, and Orchestre de la francophonie, with whom she toured South Korea.
In addition to her classical work, Zou Zou has played in over 30 musical theater productions across the U.S. and Canada. In 2022, Zou Zou made her professional acting debut at the Segal Centre for the Performing Arts, originating the role of Music in the English adaptation of Keren Peles’ rock musical April Fools. Other highlights of her pit work include a Yiddish and English production of It Shoulda Been You with the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre at the Segal Centre, Sisters: The Belles Soeurs Musical with Theatre Calgary, and the world premiere of the French-language version of The Phantom of the Opera at le Monument-National.
Zou Zou received her B.Mus. in Cello Performance from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Following her degree, Zou Zou served as the cellist of the Nightingale String Quartet at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), where she also performed the Elgar Cello Concerto as a soloist with the UNR Symphony Orchestra. Her primary teachers include Uri Vardi, Anna Burden, and Dr. James Waldo.
A passionate educator, Zou Zou has worked as a cello and ensemble instructor at the Mount-Royal Youth Orchestra (Orchestre des Jeunes de Mont-Royal), WYSO, Heid Music, MUSO Madison, and the University of Nevada, Reno. She is a certified teacher in Suzuki Book 1 and 2 and has over ten years of experience working with students of all ages. Zou Zou loves working personally with each of her students to help them meet their musical goals and foster their love of playing!
