About the Harpeth Trio

The Harpeth Trio is a professional string trio that specializes in performing traditional, classical and pop selections for wedding ceremonies, cocktail hours and receptions. Formed in 1992, the trio has played hundreds of weddings in the Middle Tennessee area.

We are delighted to provide “Music for Memorable Moments” at every special event. Maureen, Debbie and Sadie are experienced performers who have made music their entire lives. In addition to performing as a trio, each is a professional string teacher with private studios in Nashville and Franklin, TN.

Wedding Ceremonies | Rehearsal Dinners | Receptions | Engagement Parties | Bridal Luncheons | Corporate Events | Reunions | Holiday Parties | Fundraising Events

Maureen Riley: Violin

Maureen Riley, Violin

Maureen is an experienced and highly respected performer and educator of the violin. A native New Yorker, she grew up in a musical family surrounded by daily music making. Her violin studies began at age twelve and continued with masters at the State University of New York at Oswego, and as a Hilton Scholar at Syracuse University, majoring in Violin Performance.

As a local, dedicated community artist, she has performed for the Nashville Composer’s Association Score _Underscore! Film concerts, local musical theatre productions with ACT 1, The Circle Players, with Schola Pacis, with musical groups on local public radio stations in Tennessee and New York, and is the violinist (and sometimes arranger) in the Harpeth Trio, as well as a frequent soloist in churches.

Maureen draws from a vast musical experience including working with American Stage and Film director/writer Joshua Logan, playing under the baton of renowned American conductors, Robert Shaw and Howard Hanson, and performing in a variety of ensembles and genres of music from classical to fiddling in NY, NC, VA, TN and Europe.

Her pedagogical studies have been with several pioneers of Suzuki Talent Education, and she is a long time member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas with eight volumes of registered training and several supplemental courses. Passionate and committed to growing the legacy of Dr. Shinichi Suzuki for future generations, she is the owner/director of the Riley Violin Studio in Nashville, TN.

In her spare time she enjoys crocheting, baking, learning about other cultures and people, and studying the healing aspects of music, vibrations, and tones. She is married and the mother of two grown sons.

Debbie Meece: Violin, Viola

Debbie Meece, Viola

Debbie Meece has worked in the music industry for over 30 years, teaching violin, viola and piano, performing on viola with a variety of orchestras and ensembles, and/or, road managing band tours of the United States, Canada, Australia, and Tasmania. 

A graduate of Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, MD, with a Bachelor of Music in Music Education, Debbie studied viola with the acclaimed Karen Tuttle, and performed in many orchestras and ensembles, including the Annapolis Symphony, under the direction of world renowned pianist and conductor, Leon Fleisher.

Debbie is a Certified Instrumental Music Teacher for the State of TN, as well as a registered Suzuki Violin Teacher for Books 1-4. Along with starting the first string program in the public schools in Lawton, Oklahoma, she acted as Assistant Band Director at Eisenhower Junior High School, and performed professionally as assistant principal viola with the Lawton Philharmonic.

In Tennessee, Debbie has performed with the Nashville String Machine, many church orchestras and ensembles, and played viola on several recording sessions. She was the founding conductor of the Williamson County Youth Orchestra in Franklin, TN, and has started well over 100 private students on the path toward their musical careers playing violin, viola, or piano.

In her spare time Debbie enjoys life with her very musical family, doting on her pets, and writing. She is a published author, and has written several articles for the Suzuki Journal of the Suzuki Association of the Americas, as well as written a devotional book entitled, Once in a Lifetime.

Jeanette Long: Cello

Sadie Slack, Cello

The Harpeth Trio often includes cellist Sadie Slack since Jeanette Long retired.
 
 
 

 

Sadie Slack holds a Masters in cello performance from the Rudi E Scheidt School of Music in Memphis,TN and a Bachelors in performance from S.U.N.Y. Purchase Conservatory of Music in NY. While in Memphis, Slack served as assistant principle cellist to the University of Memphis Orchestra, principle cellist of the Balmoral Chamber Orchestra and was cellist of the University of Memphis Graduate Quartet. She has performed as soloist with the Hastings Symphony Orchestra, the Balmoral Chamber Orchestra, and appeared on Public Radio International’s “From the Top” from Jordan Hall in Boston, MA. Slack has been teaching since 2008 and received Suzuki Training in 2014.

She is currently teaching private students, is a sub cellist with the Huntsville Symphony, and performs as a freelance cellist throughout the Nashville area. Slack’s principle teachers include, Carol Work, George Work, Julia Lichten, Felix Wang and Leonardo Altino.