My Teaching Philosophy
They say that classical music audiences are greying. I'm not sure if I agree - but I know that it will be true if we aren't more careful as a society to place a higher value on the arts. I am also not willing to say that one form or style of music is more important than another. I know that I have my preferences, but that doesn't give me the right to say that one form is more worthy of support than another. However, I do feel qualified in saying that people should be given the opportunity to experience all forms of music, and the other arts too, for that matter. Somehow classical music has become "old-fashioned" and "elitist". It has been given the stigma of being "unwelcoming and unapproachable" to most people. And so its support has been neglected in favor of the more seemingly popular mediums. But this doesn't need to be the case. Classical music suffers from some bad PR.
While I lived in New York City, I had the opportunity to visit a few classrooms in some under-served neighborhoods of the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens. We gave presentations on classical music from around the world. I was nervous about the experience - I was afraid that the kids would find no connection between their lives and the music that we were so passionate about. I couldn't have been more wrong. These kids were entranced. They were so curious about our beautiful wooden instruments and about the music we played that made them want to move to a beat just like music that they usually listened to. They were seeing people just like them (and not much older, really) playing exciting "classical" music. We didn't have pocket protectors. We didn't wear monocles or top-hats. We weren't stuffy, stuck-up aristocrats. We smiled and joked around just like they did. And we showed them that anyone can find joy and delight in classical music. I hope that we really changed their perspective. I hope that I see even one of those kids in the audience someday - or better yet, on stage with me.
I am so lucky to be a teacher at a school where the arts are well supported. My family is not a "musical family" - we all appreciate music, and a few of us play instruments for fun, but none of us (besides me) have made music a serious career. In fact, I started playing the cello in an after-school program at my public school. I found out only a year or two after I left that the music program there had been cut. If I had been a year or two younger, I may have never had the opportunity to play a stringed instrument. I would never have found my true passion in life. So I feel very strongly that we need to give ALL kids, from all walks of life, exposure to the various forms of the arts - especially in the schools. Children need to be given the opportunity to discover the classical arts.
Without being exposed to something new, they may never know the potential inside of them.
I hope that my fellow professional classical musicians remember that they have a role in this as well. We need to show other people that classical music can speak to them, if they give it a chance. As performers, we need to be educators, too - if not literally, then by example. We also need to show our audiences that they are appreciated and welcomed. When we stand up and bow on stage, we need to mean it. We need to express our sincere gratitude for their support, for giving us the means to create beautiful music and for the opportunity to share our art with the world.
My teaching philosophy is based on these thoughts. I want to show any student who walks into my studio that classical music can speak to them. That they can be moved and inspired, and that they can express themselves through music. Playing the cello can be a metaphor for life - it takes quiet focus, patience, repetition, hard work, spirit, personality, mental fortitude, talent and passion. What in life is worth doing if it doesn't require these same attributes? If a student isn't going to be the next Yo-Yo Ma, that's okay because that is not my goal. I am in this to instill joy and passion and character. And hopefully to inspire the next generation of performers and concert goers who will appreciate and enjoy classical music for the rest of their lives, grey hair or not.
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While I lived in New York City, I had the opportunity to visit a few classrooms in some under-served neighborhoods of the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens. We gave presentations on classical music from around the world. I was nervous about the experience - I was afraid that the kids would find no connection between their lives and the music that we were so passionate about. I couldn't have been more wrong. These kids were entranced. They were so curious about our beautiful wooden instruments and about the music we played that made them want to move to a beat just like music that they usually listened to. They were seeing people just like them (and not much older, really) playing exciting "classical" music. We didn't have pocket protectors. We didn't wear monocles or top-hats. We weren't stuffy, stuck-up aristocrats. We smiled and joked around just like they did. And we showed them that anyone can find joy and delight in classical music. I hope that we really changed their perspective. I hope that I see even one of those kids in the audience someday - or better yet, on stage with me.
I am so lucky to be a teacher at a school where the arts are well supported. My family is not a "musical family" - we all appreciate music, and a few of us play instruments for fun, but none of us (besides me) have made music a serious career. In fact, I started playing the cello in an after-school program at my public school. I found out only a year or two after I left that the music program there had been cut. If I had been a year or two younger, I may have never had the opportunity to play a stringed instrument. I would never have found my true passion in life. So I feel very strongly that we need to give ALL kids, from all walks of life, exposure to the various forms of the arts - especially in the schools. Children need to be given the opportunity to discover the classical arts.
Without being exposed to something new, they may never know the potential inside of them.
I hope that my fellow professional classical musicians remember that they have a role in this as well. We need to show other people that classical music can speak to them, if they give it a chance. As performers, we need to be educators, too - if not literally, then by example. We also need to show our audiences that they are appreciated and welcomed. When we stand up and bow on stage, we need to mean it. We need to express our sincere gratitude for their support, for giving us the means to create beautiful music and for the opportunity to share our art with the world.
My teaching philosophy is based on these thoughts. I want to show any student who walks into my studio that classical music can speak to them. That they can be moved and inspired, and that they can express themselves through music. Playing the cello can be a metaphor for life - it takes quiet focus, patience, repetition, hard work, spirit, personality, mental fortitude, talent and passion. What in life is worth doing if it doesn't require these same attributes? If a student isn't going to be the next Yo-Yo Ma, that's okay because that is not my goal. I am in this to instill joy and passion and character. And hopefully to inspire the next generation of performers and concert goers who will appreciate and enjoy classical music for the rest of their lives, grey hair or not.
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