Fall 2024

My first semester as a graduate student has come to an end! I wish that I had been more active in updating my blog as well as my social media, but that is what a new year is for, right?!

This semester, I learned the 1st movement of the Brahm’s Violin Concerto, Bach D Minor Sarabande, and Chaconne. I am currently preparing for both my first master’s recital and my upcoming DMA auditions next fall.

School sure has kept me on my toes. I took five classes this semester: String Chamber Music, Philharmonia Orchestra, Private Lesson Studio, Music Bibliography, and Survey of String Pedagogy. I’ll take a moment and discuss what I worked on in each class.

String Chamber:

I was in the O. C. Tanner Honors Quartet and we worked on the Haydn Op. 64, No. 5 Quartet as well as numerous contemporary works. My amazing quartet members all worked hard to help our performances shine. We applied to the MTNA Chamber Music Competition and are waiting to hear back about the results from the preliminary round. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with these musicians.

Philharmonia Orchestra:

This orchestra has been so much fun this semester! I have played such a variety of music from living composers, to movie music, to classical overtures, and more! I appreciate the diversity in the music we perform. One of the highlights of the semester was the Halloween concert. This was the first time I had Halloween be highlighted in a concert and it was super fun! We all dressed up in costumes and the director and Grad TAs wrote a script and acted out skits between pieces. I would make sure to come to next years!

Private Lessons:

This semester I have grown so much as a musician. I have had the opportunity to dive into complex music and go deeper than the notes on the page. I have learned more about comfortable, relaxed playing and am making a goal to play tension-free. I look forward to presenting my recital this coming March.

Music Bibliography:

This class was a research class that taught my fellow grad students and I how to research a variety of music topics including composers, pieces, time periods, and other research topics. The highlight of the class was the term paper. I chose to kill two birds with one stone and write a paper on one of the books I was reading for String Pedagogy. That would be, the Suzuki Method. While I grew up a Suzuki student, I also learned about other methods and ways to practice and teach. During my undergrad, I turned against the method and resolved to find new, better ways to teach than what was the restrictiveness of the Suzuki method. In this paper, I sought to shed light on the practical application of the method, the values and essence of Suzuki’s teachings, and why the method works so well. I also took the opportunity to compare the method to others such as Rolland and Flesch. My professor was impressed with my paper and is helping me to work towards the publication of my paper.

Survey of String Pedagogy:

This class was one of my favorites. Each week, we discussed the ideals and models of a violin pedagogue. Now if you don’t know what pedagogy means, “the method and practice of teaching.” I really enjoyed learning about Rolland’s approach to playing using the whole body and focusing on relaxation and freedom of performance. Flesch built his methods upon the traditions of those pedagogues who came before him. His method is very technical. Sevcik wrote many technical exercises that would aid in solving any problem that would occur with either the right or left hands. I learned so much about many more pedagogues and intend to research them more and maybe even begin to develop a method of my own.

This semester has been challenging but has proved to be worth every second. I am ever grateful for my education and abilities to perform and hope to continue learning this next semester!

Cheers!

Sarah Kelly