Viola Lessons in Norwalk, CT

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Violin Viola Drums Mallet Percussion Orchestral Percussion Conga Keyboard Electric Guitar Djembe Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I draw inspiration largely from my Rudolf Steiner-inspired pre-college education and my Carl Orff-inspired higher education. Waldorf/Steiner education "emphasizes the role of imagination in learning, striving to integrate holistically the intellectual, practical, and artistic development of pupils" while the Orff Approach "combines music, movement, drama, and speech into lessons that are similar to child's world of play." Read More

Instruments: Piano Violin Viola

I'm well trained in the Suzuki repertoire and philosophies, however I teach a combination of traditional methods and also have the ability to exclude one or the other. For beginners and young children, I teach note reading simultaneously but separately from the applied side of playing. Holding the violin and bow, for example, are very challenging and require time to focus on them individually. Note reading is done on the side and later these aspects merge so that kids are eventually learning new pieces by reading the music directly. Read More

Instruments: Piano Violin Cello Viola Electric Violin Fiddle

Paganini's 4th Violin Concerto with cadenza which Oleg Rutkovsky composed especially for this event. After competition he was invited to participate in music festival in Rimini, Italy where he shared the stage with such famous musicians as Boris Berezovsky (1st Prize 1990 P.I.Tchaikovsky Piano Competition), Enrico Pace and Evgeny Bushkov (both winners of many international competitions). After one year with State Symphony Capella of Russia where conductor was legendary Gennady Rozhdestvensky and where Oleg performed in section 1st Violins in 1992 he accepted position of Assistant concertmaster of famous Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra and traveled around the globe performing in almost every important music hall including Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall in New York, Royal Albert and Barbican Hall in London, Beethoven Hall in Bonn (Germany), Gewandhaus, Symphony Hall and Suntory Hall in Tokyo and Osaka (Japan), Musikverein Golden Hall  in Vienna and many more. Read More

Instruments: Violin Viola Electric Violin Fiddle

I love to help each student reach their own individual creative potential.  I give them a good foundation in technique, form, ear traning, and artistic expression, but encourage them to find a piece of music or a musical style that they enjoy to pursue and make sure to save time in each lesson to work on that material.  In terms of developing technique and musical skills, I am very detail-oriented and have clear lesson plans for each class, which I outline in each student's individual lesson notebook. Read More

Instruments: Violin Viola

I believe in the importance of holistic music pedagogy for students at every level. Musicianship requires technical proficiency, music theory training, music history study, and creativity. I prefer to craft unique courses of study for each of my students rather than using popular, one-size-fits-all approaches, such as the Suzuki Method. Though many of these methods have valuable pedagogical insights, I hope my students can have a deep engagement with music, art and creativity that goes beyond technical mastery, a goal that requires a greater flexibility than such methods provide. Read More

Instruments: Violin Viola Piano Voice

Growing up with both Suzuki books and Hal Leonard Essential Elements books, those are what I prefer to use. Essential Elements, especially for string players, offers an incredible foundation for beginners. One thing I really love about those books is the use of scales from the start. As a college musician, you quickly learn the importance of scales. I place a high priority on scale practice as it is the foundation of all we play. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Violin Cello Viola Bass Guitar Synthesizer Double Bass Music Keyboard Acoustic Guitar

For adolescent beginner piano students I recommend 'John Thompson's Earliest Piano Course'. In this series Books I-III build a strong base upon which a student can specialize in different genre and styles graduating from book III. For adult students beginning I would suggest John Thompon's Adult (or Modern) Piano Course. The pacing of this book is far more accelerated and more in keeping with an adult pace to work with. Read More