Katie C  

5

  5.0 (9)

Instruments: Piano, Violin, Cello, Viola, Keyboard
Styles: Classical, Pop, Folk, Gospel, Musical Theater, Spirituals

Since graduating with my Masters in Cello Performance in 2005 from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, I have been consistently teaching. Most of my teaching for the past 13 years has been going to students' homes. I also encourage the students to participate in yearly recitals and local community engagements throughout the year. This way the students are sharing their gifts and hard work with the community that supports them. I am also proud of my work with the DC Youth Symphony Orchestra Program. My work with the DCYOP, an El-Sistema inspired program, involves teaching the basics of playing the violin, viola, cello and music theory, adjudicating students’ progress, leading sectionals and full rehearsals in various DC schools, some from the most underserved communities. Highlights are having all the different schools come together for a large performance at the Kennedy Center and the students performances with Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell and Esperanza Spalding. I’ve also facilitated many youth orchestra performances and summer camps as string teaching artist in DC and Maryland showcasing that I can motivate the students to a high quality performance regardless of the amount of time. I also have been ask to give master classes and have been involved with many after school and summer music programs.

I believe in teaching future string musicians there is only one way to make the best sound and teaching how to do this from the beginning. I want the students to understand how their instrument works by demystifying the mechanics. Once the student knows how to use the instrument, they can then discover the music and their voice in the music. For string instruments, I use the Suzuki books and Artistry in Strings method. I studied string pedagogy with Gerald Fischbach, author of Artistry in Strings. For piano, I use the Bastien Method and some fun rote methods adapted to fit each student.