Violinist Maia Zander is the founder and director of the Malibu String Academy in Malibu, California. She is also a freelance violinist in the Los Angeles area and an Artist in Residence at the Lake Chelan Bach Fest in Washington State. Maia has served as a faculty member of the Suzuki Strings of Madison, the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra's Intensive Community Project, and the Brookline Extension School. She currently serves as orchestra director for the Malibu Middle and High School orchestra programs. Under her leadership, enrollments have reached record levels and her students have performed multiple times at Carnegie Hall. She is also a fully certified Suzuki teacher, a graduate degree she earned from the prestigious program at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Maia received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Boston University in 2008. She is the author of the book Intermediate Violin Repertoire: A Teachers’ Guide. She loves living in Malibu with her husband, Steve, and their dachshund-mix, Winston. They enjoy spending their free time cooking, hiking, and traveling.