Gary Guth

Music Education degree (as a violin major), as well as my Masters in Violin Performance degree, at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (near Pittsburgh), studying with a wonderful person and fantastic musician and teacher, Delight Malitsky, who was also like a second Mom to me. Her warm, nurturing, caring guidance still resounds warmly in my playing, and in my living.

I also have done a lot of additional study on viola, cello, and both classical guitar (with Anne Waller, currently at Northwestern University, and William Carter, currently at the Guildhall School in London), and jazz guitar (with Steve Brown at Ithaca College, and Bob Sneider at the Eastman School of Music).

Just recently I have begun to take lessons to learn "how to walk," with bassist Jeff Campbell who teaches jazz bass at the Eastman School. Interestingly, I have also been fortunate to have studied "jazz violin" with three top notch jazz TRUMPET players right here in Rochester – – – Paul Smoker (Nazareth College), Clay Jenkins, of the Eastman School, and Mike Kaupa of the Eastman Community School. These gentlemen have helped me tremendously. I hope to study more with these excellent teachers, and/or other "horn players," since I try to approach jazz playing on violin, much like sax or trumpet players do.

I am kept quite busy with my teaching duties, (and my own children) however I find time as much as possible to perform chamber music, community orchestra gigs, in an occasional recital, and regularly in a jazz "big band" (on guitar) at Eastman, and in jazz combos (on violin/viola and guitar).

I've been teaching for over 30 years, with teaching experience at all levels, including strings instruction and directing orchestras at elementary, middle school/junior high school, high school, and collegiate levels (where I have also taught applied guitar in addition to violin and viola), as well as private teaching in my own studio.

Somehow I manage to keep a pretty good amount of time "sacred" for practicing and playing for my own enjoyment. While I do keep my "classical" skills as sharp as possible, the last several years I have especially focussed on plugging my love of jazz into the violin, – - - or maybe I should I say my love of violin into jazz...