Sheryl Shohet, originally from Wisconsin, has been a first violinist with the Honolulu Symphony (now Hawaii Symphony) since 1983. She earned her Bachelor’s degrees in violin performance and Music Education from Drake University in Iowa, and her Master’s degree in violin performance from the Hartt School of Music in Connecticut. She has appeared as a soloist with the Drake Symphony, the Des Moines Youth Symphony, the Graceland Orchestra, and the Colorado Philharmonic.

Sheryl taught strings for three years at Graceland College in Lamoni, Iowa and played in the Des Moines and Hartford Symphonies and the Colorado Philharmonic before moving to Honolulu. She currently has a home studio in Waipahu, Hawaii, of 60 violinists ages 3-43 who love to play. Her touring ensemble, Na Mele O Suzuki, visited Tokyo in 2006 and 2013, and took several tours to Hilo and Maui. They are planning to tour England and Scotland in 2019.

Sheryl is an officer or board member of the Suzuki Association of Hawaii, Hawaii American String Teachers Association, and the Musicians’ Association of Hawaii, Local 677, Past-President of the Hawaii Music Teachers Association, and has been director or co-director of the Hawaii Suzuki Institute since its founding in 1985. She has taught at Suzuki institutes in Ottawa, KS; Santa Fe, NM; and Maui, Hawaii. She presented topics at the World Suzuki Convention in Melbourne, Australia in April 2009, the SAA conference in Minneapolis in May 2012, the Hawaii Music Educators Conference in February 2015, and the American String Teachers Association conference in Salt Lake City in March 2015. Sheryl wrote an article which appeared in the December 2011 American Suzuki Journal and was featured in an article on the Suzuki Association of Hawaii in the fall 2012 American Suzuki Journal. Her grown daughter is an accomplished violinist and chemical engineer.