Minzo K
Instruments: Cello
Styles: Classical
Minzo K
Instruments: Cello
Styles:
Classical
Where I Teach:
Ages Taught: 8-80
Gregor Piatigorsky Scholarship
Beatrice Feldman Kahn and Raymond S. Kahn Endowed Scholarship
Tudor Family Endowed Scholarship
Grace Clagett Ranney Prize in Chamber Music
Olga von Hartz Memorial Prize in Strings
Hello! My name is Minzo K., and I'm a professional cellist who is passionate about bringing music education to students of all ages and playing abilities. I grew up in the greater Philadelphia area, before moving to Baltimore in 2012 to begin my undergraduate studies at The Johns Hopkins University in Cello Performance. After that, I moved out to Houston to get my masters degree in Cello Performance at Rice University. After finishing up at Rice, I spent a few years in Houston teaching and performing until I moved back to South Philly in February 2022! I've had the pleasure to play with orchestras all around the country, and I've also toured extensively internationally as part of the Lincoln Center Stage piano quintet. I'm looking forward to building my cello teaching studio here in Philly!
My true passion for music education began when I moved to Houston for graduate school. During my time there, I quickly had grown my studio to upwards of 15 students at local music schools, and would also lead sectionals for group cello lessons at middleschools and highschools nearby. I also work with and teach for a non-profit organization called Musicians for the World, which aims to bring quality virtual music education to vulnerable communities around the world; through this non-profit, I have some students from Kenya, Haiti, Peru, Belize, and Mexico! After moving (back) to Philly, I began teaching for Play on Philly, which provides intensive music education to students, who would typically lack access, as a vehicle for life skills and academic achievement. I believe that music education should be accessible for anybody and everybody, no matter what your background is.
Generally, for beginning children, I start with Hal Leonard's "Essential Elements" book (which I began with as well when I was 8!). Then, we move on up to the Suzuki books. These books, numbered from 1-10, have a great steady progression in difficulty, starting with songs that everybody will know, like Twinkle Twinkle and Row Row Row Your Boat, up to very challenging concertos, like Haydn's Cello Concerto in C major. As we progress, I will add some etudes from Dotzauer, Popper, and Schroeder to focus on technique as well. For adults, I like to have a conversation first about what they'd like to get out of lessons, and we go from there!
As someone who's played cello for the past 2 decades, I can say with certainty through my own experience, that the most effective teachers are the ones who adapt to each student. When a teacher uses sort of a "cookie cutter" teaching method and applies the same lessons to each and every student, students often don't get the proper attention they need for for specific aspects of their playing. Thus, I believe in tailoring my teaching methods for each student, as each student is vastly different in so many ways. In addition, especially with beginner students, I tend to focus a lot on technique, like how we physically hold the bow, what our shoulders and elbows are doing and things of that nature, because I believe that a strong cello player is someone who has a great technical foundation.
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