ABOUT MY TEACHING

 

My interest in teaching started early and was shaped by growing up in a family of pedagogues. I have devoted most of my professional life to teaching violin at every level and on four continents. My style of teaching is influenced by the Russian School of Violin, the French School of Violin, and the pedagogy of Ivan Galamian.

 

The violin is a singing instrument. From the very first lessons I strive to develop the student’s own voice through tone production, imagination, a solid technical foundation, and musical interpretation. I believe that singing is crucial for understanding phrasing, and that technique must serve music interpretation, for technique is not an end in itself.

 

I tend to work with students in a detailed manner, with several emphases that consider the needs of each student:

 

-learning how to listen

-learning how to practice

-establishing a technical foundation that works holistically instrument/body

-elimination of mental blocks and physical tensions

-producing a tone that matches the idea of the voice that the student has in his/her mind

-allowing musical interpretation to flow, undisturbed.

-understanding the mental and emotional world of the student

-developing mental endurance

 

As a pedagogue, I have been influenced both by my teachers and by my family, and also by all of my students. As much as teachers can draw from their own experiences with the instrument, so can teachers learn from their students. To teach is to learn.