My story

As a girl growing up in the Suzuki Talent Education Association in Knoxville, Tennessee, I thrived in my music training. Performances, recitals, lessons, master classes—all of it was absolute joy. I excelled swiftly and by my teen years, it was clear my future was somewhere in the...

Years ago, I wondered. What if musicians, artists and creatives of all kinds were valued above all else? What if our educational system, the culture we inhabit and the society in which we raise our children focused on the compassionate connection borne from creative expression? How would our...

Ease. It is the buzz word for flow, creativity, freedom, and musical artistry. With ease, the holy grail of musicianship is ours and accessible to our students. Yet, how do we have it, and what does it make possible in our functioning that isn’t already there? 

”Ease” is a...

It wasn’t always the case I felt this way. Coming out of music school with a performance degree, I was entirely ill-equipped to teach young beginners to play the violin, and I knew it. My irrational fear of teaching little ones (What if I can’t get them to settle down? What if they...

We musicians have long known the relationship between mental-emotional well-being and our music-making. If we want to improve our playing, we must address the body, the mind and the balance between them. It is true of our students, as well. Their progress in music directly reflects their...

Receiving and setting expectation. We are groomed for it. As children, we learn to please our parents by meeting with their approval. As students we strive to be equal to the goals our professors set before us through the work that we do and the attitudes we carry. As professional teachers and...

Specializing. Identifying. Isolating. Correcting. It’s how we’ve learned to grow, to heal, and to improve. Find what’s wrong, and fix it. Solve what’s broken, and you’re good to go.

But what if we approached issues not as problems but with curiosity? Such imbalances...