Elayne Ras began Suzuki violin lessons at the age of 11 at the first Suzuki school in Toronto, after taking piano lessons with her mother since age 5. She received her Honours Bachelor in Music Performance & her BA in Psychology from the University of Western Ontario and became a violin Teacher Trainer in 2002. Elayne has been a clinician for numerous Suzuki workshops and institutes in Canada and the US, has adjudicated at music festivals around Ontario and Alberta, and served 10 years on the board of the Suzuki Association of Ontario, including a term as Chair.

Elayne performed with the Stratford Symphony Orchestra for 5 years, is now Principal 2nd violin of the Guelph Symphony, and freelances around Southwestern Ontario. She conducted a community band of all ages in Goderich for 19 years. Now living in Rockwood, she taught with the Suzuki String School of Guelph for 14 years, including 12 years as conductor of beginning orchestras, after teaching with Huron String School in Goderich for 26 years.

Currently, Elayne teaches violin and viola privately in Guelph, teaches part-time with Etobicoke Suzuki Music, and is the Director of the Southwestern Ontario Suzuki Institute in Waterloo, Ontario. She toured China as a member of the Ontario Festival Symphony Orchestra in 2012, and in 2018, completed a Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology in Toronto, Ontario, given by the Flourishing Centre of New York. She is excited to be able to apply principles of Positive Psychology in her studio, and in teacher training classes.