Fiddler's Favorite Recipes Episode 8: Rachel Barton Pine's Peanut Butter Delight
Who better to start off the school week than Rachel Barton Pine and her daughter Sylvia, with a fun and nutritious childhood recipe of Rachel’s called "Peanut Butter Delight"?
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Bowing, a Personal Odyssey Through 5 Bow Holds
Blursday, the umpteenth of Whatever; stuck at home, practicing anti-social distancing. This recent forced vacation allows time to finally write this, partly to clarify my thoughts, but mostly to provoke some comments from my superiors on the panel.
I have been through about five ways of holding or using the bow, and three times have experienced the breakdown in technique that can happen when you change styles. I do not remember the details from teacher #1. He was a Czech immigrant, which would put him in the Sevcik school. I do remember that my fingers were closer together, and the focus of energy was on the second finger. Short-term teachers #2,3,&4 did not change my bow-hold. I think I had a reputation among my fellow students of having good bow control, but not enough volume. Teacher #5 at that time was a fan of the old "German" hold, with the hyper-extended first finger, which works well for early music. That did not last long. Teacher #6, my last, converted me to what is known as the Franco-Belgian ("F.B.") hold, with the first finger contacting the stick between the first and second joints, well in front of the thumb. This provided more volume from improved first finger leverage. That helped me at my regular six-nights-per-week job with Mariachi Los Campers (two trumpets vs. six violins!) Keep reading...
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Fiddler's Favorite Recipes Episode 7: Yumi Hwang Williams' Turkish Hummus
Today we go to my good friend Yumi Hwang Williams and her daughter Ava, who live very close to Evergreen, the town where I grew up in Colorado! Yumi has been Concertmaster of the Colorado Symphony since 2000, and she is also Adjunct Violin Professor at the University of Denver, Lamont School of Music. Before coming to Colorado, Yumi was Principal Second Violin for the Cincinnati Symphony. She started violin at age 10 in Philadelphia, one year after emigrating from South Korea. When she was 15, she was accepted to the Curtis Institute and also made her debut as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra. She also specializes in new and contemporary music - recently she recorded Isang Yun's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 for an album with cellist Matt Haimovitz called Sunrise Falling. Yumi and Ava have prepared for us a yummy and easy Turkish Hummus. You are sure to never buy Hummus again after making this. Enjoy!
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Adventures in Online Teaching Part I - Setting Up Your Studio Space
Like many of you, I’ve pivoted to online teaching for individual and group lessons as a way to stay connected with the families who normally come to my home studio on a weekly basis. With the camera and sound equipment I already had in storage, this is how I set up my teaching studio to run online lessons. I thought I'd share what is working for me, in case it can provide ideas for other teachers and students about how to set up your own studio or practice space for online interaction. Keep reading...
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Laurie's Books
Discover the best of Violinist.com in these collections of editor Laurie Niles' exclusive interviews.
Violinist.com Interviews Volume 1, with introduction by Hilary Hahn
Violinist.com Interviews Volume 2, with introduction by Rachel Barton Pine
