Meet Our Booking Manager

Booking Manager and Owner of Crystal Coast Musicians: Bonny L. (Choo) Shirk

A multi-instrumentalist, Bonny has been performing music her whole life.  A graduate of the University of Michigan, Bonny holds a Bachelors of Arts in Music (violin) and a Bachelors of Arts in Education (music and social studies), and has done Graduate studies at the University of North Carolina. In addition to multiple music and academic scholarships, Bonny has won several state and regional competitions on violin, viola, piano and ensemble performances, and was the first place instrumentalist winner in the National AMTC competition.

In the course of her career, Bonny has founded and directed several youth string programs in Michigan, taught music and orchestra in schools, and has taught hundreds of private music students. She has also played with many professional and community orchestras, including  performances with the Midland Symphony Orchestra and Flint Symphony Orchestra, and served as both concertmaster and principal second violinist of the Blue Lake Symphony Orchestra. She toured Europe and the US with the Blue Lake International Orchestra, including performances in Denmark, Germany and France. A member of the International Thespian Society and former commercial model, Bonny has also lent her musical talents to the stage and screen, performing recording tracks for independent short films, appearing in television commercials, and participating in many levels of theatre both on stage and in the pit orchestra, including composing two award winning scores. She was also the spokesmodel for LePage Fine String Instruments.

A former social studies teacher at New Bern High School, and former music and orchestra teacher at the Epiphany School of Global Studies, Bonny lives in beautiful New Bern where she teaches private and group lessons on violin, viola, cello, piano and voice at Fuller’s Music, serves as the pianist and music director for both Croatan Presbyterian Church, and the Chapel on MCAS Cherry Point, and performs with the Crystal Coast Quartet, for which she also serves as the booking manager.