Biography
A native of Seattle, Washington, Dorothea Cook (”Deede” to her friends) majored in performance at the University of Washington where she studied violin with Vilem Sokol and Emanuel Zetlin. She augmented her college education with summer course work in England with violin pedagogue Kato Havas and in France at the Fontainebleau Summer Institute studying theory and solfege under the direction of Robert Levin and Nadia Boulanger. An active interest in the psychology of performance led her to work with Eloise Ristad and Lowell Roddenberry, both pioneers in the field of stress management for artists.
She was much in demand as a professional violinist in Seattle’s lively musical scene, performing as soloist and ensemble player with the Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Musica Viva, Seattle Chamber Singers and the Carmel Bach Festival. She served as concertmaster for the Seattle Bach Ensemble, the Seattle Repertory and Alaska Repertory Theaters. As a free-lance violinist she played with the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Opera, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and the 5th Avenue Theater. In addition to her performing activities in the Seattle area, Dorothea coached and led workshops at a variety of institutions including The Cornish School of the Arts, The Evergreen State College, and Midsummer Musical Retreat.
In 1991 Deede moved to Long Island to be with her husband, Peter Winkler, where she taught privately and completed a multidisciplinary bachelor’s degree in music and psychology at Stony Brook University. Her studies included jazz improvisation with Todd Coolman and continuo realization with Arthur Haas. Her search for a holistic approach to music education led her to the pedagogy of Emile-Jacques Dalcroze, which she studied in New York City at the Dalcroze School of America and the Diller-Quaile School of Music, working with Robert Abramson, Ruth Alperson, and Anne Farber. She has taught Dalcroze Eurythmics at the Lucy Moses School of Music and Dance, the Stony Brook Summer Music Festival, the Diller-Quaile School of Music, and is director of the Music Basics for Kids program at Stony Brook University.
In addition to her teaching activities, Deede plays Baroque violin and viola in period music ensembles, including the Stony Brook Baroque Players, and performs with the violin/piano duo Silken Rags with her husband, Peter Winkler.