The Musicians
Tim grew up in a musical family in Harvard, Massachusetts, and began the violin at age
five with his grandfather's violin and his sister as his teacher. Selected at a young age
for the Longy School Young Artist Program with Roman Totenberg, the Greater Boston Youth
Symphony Orchestra, and the New England Youth Ensemble, Tim studied in his formative years
with Virginia Gene Rittenhouse of Thayer Conservatory and Leo Panasevich of the Boston
Symphony. In college, Tim played with the Harvard Radcliffe Orchestra and the Bach Society,
and later, while in Lake Tahoe, as a sub for the Reno Philharmonic.
More recently Tim is a founding member of the String Beings of Portland, and has played
with the Eggrock String Quartet, the Concord Orchestra, the Carlisle Chamber Orchestra,
Portsmouth Symphony, Lakes Region Symphony, and the University of Southern Maine Symphony,
and has been concertmaster of the Savoyard Light Opera Company, the Harvard Messiah Sing,
the Sounds of Stow, and the Sudbury Savoyards. Most summers Tim joins the Kent Music,
Chamber Music Conference of the East, Wyoda, Winterhaven, Kneisel Hall, and Orford chamber
music festivals.
In addition to playing music, Tim is the owner of
Bridges and Bows Violin Shop and studied violin
repair and restoration with Paul Wiessmeyer at the University of New Hampshire Violin
Craftsmanship Institute. He lives in the White Mountains with his wife and two Jack
Russells, Mango and Roo, spending time ski racing, hiking, and playing pickleball.
Margaret Bruziak Hopkins
violin
Margaret was born in Poland, where she began her musical journey at the age of seven
with violin studies, adding piano at age twelve. She was a member of the Boston Youth
Symphony Orchestra (formerly GBYSO), performing with the ensemble for six years.
Ms. Hopkins earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Performance and Music Education from
the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, followed by extensive Suzuki teacher training at
institutions across the United States. Her performance career has taken her around the
world, including appearances in Poland, Switzerland, Israel, England, Scotland, Wales,
Canada, and throughout the United States.
An active leader in music education, she served as Orchestra Vice President for the
Maine Music Educators Association, past president of the Maine Suzuki Association, and past
secretary of the Maine chapter of the American String Teachers Association. She taught
violin in the Saco and Old Orchard Beach school systems, and she currently serves on the
faculty of the Portland Conservatory of Music.
In addition to her role as concertmaster of the Lakes Region Symphony Orchestra, she
performs regularly with the Artful Noise String Quartet, the Lakes Region String Quartet,
and various ensembles across New England. She is also a sought-after freelance musician.
Beyond her musical career, Margaret has a passion for travel. She is the proud mother of
two daughters, grandmother to two grandchildren, and shares her home with her cat, Lola.
Wendy Williams Keyes
viola
Wendy grew up in the Boston area and earned viola performance degrees from the New
England Conservatory and UMass Lowell. She has held positions in orchestras based in
Worcester (MA), New Haven (CT), Norfolk (VA), New York City, and currently in Portsmouth
(NH). She has taught violin and viola for numerous music academies as well as in her
private studio.
She and her husband, mathematics professor David Keyes, are co-founders of a research
university in Saudi Arabia (KAUST), where she
directed the Office of the Arts from 2009 until its hibernation during the pandemic. The
Office served a global community of 125 nationalities, and she and her team presented up to
60 events per year employing KAUST's talented amateurs or visiting professionals in chamber
music, orchestra, chorus, theatre, poetry, and the visual arts — ranging from the Globe
Theatre of London, throat singers from Mongolia, and Tingatinga artists from Tanzania to
New York City jazz — in venues on campus and in international consulates in Jeddah.
Ms. Keyes is a regular participant at the
Chamber Music Conference of the East, held each summer
at Colgate University. Outside of music, she keeps busy with her six grandchildren, three of
whom live locally, while the other three live in the “other” Portland (OR). She
performs on a 2024 viola made by Benjamin Ruth.
Steve grew up in New York City, where he attended the High School of Music and Art. He
is the son of composer Beatrice Witkin, and started playing the cello at age seven. His
most important teachers were Kermit Moore and George Sopkin of the Fine Arts Quartet. He
attended summer chamber music workshops in Meadowbrook (NY), Mount Orford, Quebec — where
he performed with an international youth orchestra at Expo 67 under Zubin Mehta — and with
the Fine Arts Quartet.
After graduating from Columbia College, he moved to Wisconsin, where he was principal
cellist of the Bach Chamber Choir and Orchestra and the Sullivan Chamber Ensemble, and was
a member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. While in Wisconsin, he received a Masters
Degree in Zoology, specializing in the study of avian vocalizations. In 1979 he decided to
pursue a medical career, and moved to Maine in 1987, where he practiced ophthalmology in
Waterville for 36 years.
In Maine he re-connected and resumed studies with his dear friend and mentor, George
Sopkin. From 1987 to 2022 he was principal cellist with the Colby College Symphony
Orchestra, where he was also a member of the Colby String Quartet and Colby Piano Trio. He
has performed in numerous chamber music recitals throughout Maine, including at the
University of Maine (Farmington and Orono) and Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin Colleges.
Steve was a founding member of the piano trio Les Amis. He currently performs with the
Bagaduce Chorale in Blue Hill and the Seacoast Symphony Orchestra. He is delighted in his
new venture as a String Being!
