Violin Lessons in Charlotte, NC

Instruments: Trumpet Euphonium French Horn

When did you decide to become a professional musician? Was it a gradual decision or was there a defining moment for you?
I knew from a very early age that performing professionally is what I wanted to do with my life simply because I could not see myself doing anything else. Nothing in my life has ever brought me as much joy and meaning as performing and witnessing the impact that live music can have on an audience member. It is truly spectacular. As I grew older and began teaching music to younger students, a similar level of joy washed over me witnessing students understand concepts, succeed in their experimentation, and learn how to experiment. There is truly nothing else in the world like it.

Does music run in your family? Tell us a little about your musical family members.
Music runs quite deeply in my family. On my fathers side, most of my family sang, played piano, or played violin. My father actually holds a couple of higher education degree in music education, was a band director, and professional musician himself. On my mothers side, there is not quite as deep a heritage of musicians, but she played the accordion throughout high school and her father played the flute for a fair amount of his younger days. Music always played in the house, and from a young age, I was pushed to be in as many musical productions as I could be in ranging from choir, string orchestra, piano, or band.

Do you use specific teaching methods or books? (Ex: Alfred, Bastion, Suzuki, Hal Leonard) Why did you choose them if you did?
Depending on the age of the student and skill level of the student I will assign different etude books. As for technique books, I tend to use the same things for all students. James Thompson's buzzing basics, Arbans, Clarke, Gekker Slow Practice, Schlossberg, Ciciwicz flow and long tone studies, and a LOT of playing by ear/call and response.

What does a normal practice session look like for you?
My practice sessions have changed a lot over the years and I would argue are in a constant state of flux. Through all this change, the skeleton for my sessions has stayed the same. Warm up my body through stretching and breathing exercises. Calm my mind before the first note. Turn on a drone and solfege some basic scales to warm up my ear. Warm up my sound. From there, I will hit whatever technical issues I need to work on. I put a lot of emphasis on flow/connection between notes and articulation flexibility.

If you have a Music Degree, what is it in (Performance, Education, Musicology, Theory, Composition, etc) and why did you choose that degree?
My degrees are in music performance. While I do care deeply for my students and think teaching is the biggest responsibility every musician has to their community, my first love is performing and better myself as a musician. I cannot teach an experience that I do not have.

What is your dream piece to perform and why?
The top bucket-list piece of music to perform is the Rite of Spring. There is some thing so incredibly visceral in the Rite that is simply not found in any other pieces. If you have not had to chance to hear it, go look up the Montreal Symphony with Charles Dutoit conducting. There is simply nothing like it.

If you weren't a musician what do you think you'd be doing instead?
I have asked myself this question many times over the years, and I truly do not know. Music saved me and gave my life purpose from the ripe old age of 12. There is nothing else that gives me anywhere near the same pleasure as music. If I were to live my life without music, I would likely do whatever odds and ends jobs to make ends meet while searching for purpose in life. Which I truly believe would lead me to music.

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