Lessons & Workshops

Since finishing my pedagogical training in 2014, I meanwhile have quite a few years of experience teaching individual and group lessons in music schools, festivals, and conservatories. I work with students of all ages and levels—whether you are just starting out or looking to deepen your skills in specific areas. On a beginner level, we learn basic technique using classical, folk and Eastern European repertoire – we will find things that you like! For more advanced students, I can offer lessons in variation and improvisation, advanced technique, stylistic focus on jazz, klezmer and Romanian music, free improvisation, harmony and music theory.

Private Violin Lessons for Beginning and Advanced Violinists of all Ages

For me, music is first and foremost an intuitive form of communication. While I also incorporate scores and written music, I place great importance on learning by ear. The idea is that we develop an intuitive understanding of music and to directly connect feeling to sound, rather than having the sound connected to a text. I believe this is very important to learn to be expressive with music, and to feel that it is really YOU who is playing the music. Don’t be afraid- it is fun and you can learn this, even if you have the feeling you can’t do it now yet.

My lessons are tailored to your specific interests and needs, with a focus on classical repertoire, folk traditions and jazz. Together, we will work on technique, tone, and repertoire, always with an ear toward developing musical independence and creative confidence.

For Children

It is important that your child expresses the wish to learn music and the violin. And do not be afraid- we will get beyond the first phase! We will not only learn to play, but also to listen and imagine sound. With exercises including moving, speaking rhythmically and singing, my goal is to connect musical expression to physical intuition. Here as well, learning by ear will be playing an important role. That way we can get to playing together with others relatively quickly- which also is an important aspect of my pedagogical approach. Every year we do at least one class concert- a joyous event!

For Adults

Whether you are a complete beginner or an advanced player, you probably know that learning to play the violin is not always easy. You need perseverance; to set realistic goals- and you need patience. But you will also get a lot in return! Learning to play the violin is an adventure that will allow you to grow on many levels, also outside of music. It is about learning to listen to yourself. In practice, we will use repertoire that you like in order to find out how to make the connection between movement and feeling.

Private Piano Lessons for Children

I recently discovered that I love teaching piano as well. Although I do not hold a degree in it, I have been playing piano to learn harmony, compose and accompany students for many years. I have been teaching piano for a while now in the music school where I work. I am using different methods for different ages and learning styles, always keeping learning by ear as an important component of my teaching. If you are looking for a piano teacher for your child, I’m looking forward to hear from you! Piano pupils are of course also invited to participate in our annual class concert.

Group Lessons and Workshops

I offer group lessons and workshops on the following topics:

• Group improvisation with Present Time Composition, a method developed by Alan Bern. You can see it as a form of “Improvisation for Classical Musicians”. What you can expect:
  • We don’t learn to read and recite the language of music, but rather to use it to express something ourselves. 
  • We learn to think like a composer does when writing music, so we can better understand composed music. 
  • That’s why we gradually learn to use the building blocks of music in a creative way: rhythm, melody, chords. 
  • And most importantly: we experience the joy of playing and improvising together with others.
• Style Focus in jazz, klezmer, and Romanian traditional music. We work on repertoire and try to make it sound as “original” as we can. We can do this in groups of just strings or in band format. We listen to recordings and analyze them, and talk about accompaniment patterns (yes, also if you play violin!), phrasing, harmony, structure, ornamentation, variation, tempo- all the things that make up a style!