Violinist.com

A Boost for Teachers: Elizabeth Faidley's Pedagogy Day

Sun, 12 Jul 2026 23:37:40 GMT

By Laurie Niles: It takes a certain kind of person to get excited for "Pedagogy Day" - an entire day devoted to the art of teaching the violin. But I just so happen to be such a person! I love to teach, but now and then I need new teaching ideas, insights about students, and encouragement to continue the challenge of teaching with patience while also striving for excellence. So this summer I have a big "X" on my calendar to reserve August 2 for Elizabeth Faidley's fifth annual Pedagogy Day.

Violin pedagogue Elizabeth Faidley.

This is an all-day Zoom workshop with sessions on teaching technique, a session on child psychology, studio management tips, and even a guest appearance by Ray Chen. Quite a line-up! In previous years, it has attracted hundreds of teachers from all over the globe who come for Elizabeth's expertise as well as the advise and company of other teaching colleagues. A little background on Elizabeth: she is a New York-based violin teacher who has been teaching at the Manhattan School of Music for 20 years and privately for longer. Her strong reputation is based on the successes of her many students, who are bolstered by the strong foundation she helps them build, along with an enthusiastic studio environment with plenty of motivational activities, such as frequent recitals and masterclasses with violin stars such as Sarah Chang, Ray Chen and Midori. Last week I spoke with Elizabeth about her "Pedagogy Day," as well as her own sources of inspiration and motivation motivation for teaching. Laurie: I know that you spent time performing early in your career, but you ultimately decided to devote yourself to teaching. What made you want to teach? Elizabeth: This is my twentieth year on the faculty at Manhattan School of Music and my twenty-eighth year of teaching overall, so I suppose it's fair to say it's become my life's work. There are countless wonderful violinists in the world, and I have enormous respect for the performing life. I loved performing too, but somewhere along the way I realized that I was happiest in the teaching studio. I remember being on an orchestra tour and finding myself thinking about one of my students' technical problems instead of the concert that night. That was probably a clue. What I love is that every age gives you something different. A six-year-old teaches you patience and imagination. A teenager teaches you honesty and empathy. An adult beginner teaches you courage. Every student keeps you thinking, and after all these years I still come home from lessons with new ideas.

Elizabeth Faidley teaching one of her students.

That's one of the reasons Pedagogy Day means so much to me. Teaching is endlessly interesting, but most of us spend our days thinking through these things alone. It's nice to have a room full of people who find it just as fascinating as you do. Laurie: Did you have to learn to teach, or did it just come naturally because you knew how to play? Elizabeth: Definitely both, but I had to work at it. I grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and started violin at the "very late age" of eight, which I put in quotation marks because violinists have a funny idea of what's late. I begged for a violin for an entire year before anyone took me seriously. Chattanooga in the 1980s wasn't overflowing with violin teachers, so I spent years rebuilding my own technique as I learned more. I had to figure out why things worked instead of just trying to imitate someone else. I find that is the crux of pedagogy: the WHY. Looking back, that was probably the best training I could have had for teaching. If you've had to rebuild your own playing, you get very curious about how people actually learn. Playing well and teaching well are completely different skills. Conservatories don't spend much time on pedagogy, so most teachers end up figuring it out as they go. Over the years I've studied psychology, physiology, and child development because a violin lesson is never just about the violin. It's about how a body moves, how a brain learns, and who that student is on that particular day. The funny thing is that we all spend decades learning how to play, but very little time learning how to teach. That's another reason I enjoy bringing teachers together. Laurie: What do you feel helped you become a good teacher? Elizabeth: Every student is different. What unlocks something for one child may make absolutely no sense to another. My job isn't to have one perfect explanation. It's to keep looking until I find the one that works for the person sitting in front of me. The other thing is simply time. If you teach for long enough and you're paying attention, your students teach you. Every lesson tells you something about how people learn. After nearly three decades, I still change things all the time because a student has shown me a better way to explain something. I think that's one of the things teachers enjoy most about Pedagogy Day. We get to compare notes. Someone will casually mention something they've been doing in their studio, and suddenly twenty people are scribbling it down because they've never thought of it that way before. Laurie: It's one thing to teach students, but what made you decide you were ready to teach teachers? Elizabeth: The pandemic, oddly enough. During COVID I offered an online pedagogy course because everyone was stuck at home. I thought a handful of teachers might sign up. Instead, teachers came from all over. What struck me wasn't just how eager they were to learn; it was how eager they were to talk to one another. Teaching can be a surprisingly lonely profession. Most of us spend our days in our own studios, trying things, asking ourselves questions, and wondering how other teachers handle the same situations. I realized that what people really wanted wasn't someone standing at the front of the room claiming to have all the answers. They wanted colleagues. They wanted conversation and they wanted permission to ask questions. And that's really what Pedagogy Day has become. Laurie: What made you start Pedagogy Day? Elizabeth: The first conference was supposed to happen in July of 2020. As we all remember, the timing turned out to be...less than ideal. So we moved everything online, and to my surprise it worked beautifully. We've held one every year since. This is now the fifth year of the one-day version, and it's honestly one of my favorite days of the year. We spend the entire day talking about teaching with people who care as much about it as I do. If you're a pedagogy nerd -� and I absolutely am -� it's a wonderful day. Laurie: What are some of the highlights of this year's Pedagogy Day? Elizabeth: I'm thrilled that Ray Chen will be joining us this year. He'll teach a masterclass with students of the participating teachers, talk about balancing performing and teaching, answer questions, and discuss TonicNotes (his app)and the ways technology is changing how students practice. I think it's going to be a fascinating conversation. I'll also be teaching several sessions of my own. We'll look at the physics behind violin technique, spend time on the left hand, talk about student psychology, and have one of my favorite sessions, "The Good, the Bad, and the Birthday Parties," which is all about running a healthy, sustainable private studio. And then there's "Elizabeth's Weird Secrets," where I finally reveal the slightly ridiculous thing I do to teach vibrato. I always get questions about that one. More than anything, though, I hope people leave with pages of ideas they can't wait to try on Monday morning. Laurie: What kind of feedback have you received from Pedagogy Day? Elizabeth: One email has stayed with me ever since the first conference. A teacher wrote afterward and said, "Thank you for giving me permission to think for myself." She explained that she'd always felt she had to follow every piece and every step exactly as she'd been taught. After the conference she realized it was okay to skip a piece if it wasn't serving a student, or bring in something outside the method if it helped that particular child. That didn't make her a bad teacher. It made her a thoughtful one. That really stayed with me because I think so many teachers need to hear exactly that. If people leave Pedagogy Day with a few new ideas, a few new colleagues, and a little more confidence in their own judgment, then I feel like we've done what we came to do! * * * Elizabeth Faidley's Pedagogy Day takes place August 2, via Zoom. To register, send Elizabeth a DM on Instagram (@faidleystudio) or click here to email her. Tuition is $100 - if you learned about Pedagogy Day through Violinist.com, the promo word "Laurie" will make it $90! You might also like:

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Review: Violinist Randall Goosby and the 'Classical World Cup'

Sat, 11 Jul 2026 22:49:23 GMT

By Laurie Niles: With eight World Cup matches hosted in Los Angeles this summer, it makes sense that local institutions would want to jump on the bandwagon - thus Thursday night's "Classical World Cup" concert at the Hollywood Bowl. The show featured the Los Angeles Philharmonic performing works by composers representing three of the competing countries: the United States, Mexico and Argentina (the only country still in World Cup contention at the time of the concert!) The concert also included the world premiere of an eight-minute soccer-themed film called "The Art of the Goal" by Josh Kahn, with a score by Adam Schoenberg, a Los Angeles-based composer familiar to LA Phil audiences, with four of his previous works also premiered at the Hollywood Bowl. (One of those compositions was "Cool Cat," his piece inspired by P-22, the city's much-beloved, urban-dwelling mountain lion who passed away in 2022.) Of course, I attended the concert to see the violinist: Randall Goosby, who performed Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto. (In keeping with the evening's theme, both violinist and composer represented the United States.)

Violinist Randall Goosby. Photo courtesy of the artist.

I've been following Goosby for some time, from his Sphinx win at age 13, to his early-20s recording called "Roots" to his 2023 performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin concerto with the LA Phil. Goosby, a proteg� of Itzhak Perlman and Catherine Cho, continues to perform as a soloist around the world, and he has recently joined the Juilliard School's Pre-College violin faculty. Following the opening of Thursday's concert, an energetic reading of Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera's "Four Dances from Estancia," Goosby served up an exciting and artful performance of the Barber. Barber's Violin Concerto is a beautifully opulent piece, and its expansive first two movements sounded especially cinematic in this setting: the Hollywood Hills at sunset. Even in this enormous venue that seats nearly 17,500 people (probably around 9,000 on this night), the giant screens created a sense of intimacy, showing super-duper close-ups of the soloist as well as other musicians in the orchestra. The geeky violin fan (me) could see Goosby's technique up-close -- for example, a very fluid vibrato with loose finger joints. And where vibrato was not possible -- on an open "G" during the first-movement cadenza - Goosby employed an expert bow wobble - a sort of right-hand vibrato that achieved the same effect. The second movement opened with an exceptional oboe solo by Ryan Roberts - pure and pitch-perfect, clear as a beacon in the night sky. During the same movement, Goosby played with a kind of inner rhythm that kept the musical tension going - this was not the kind of slow movement to put one to sleep. It had a sense of groove, along with some left-hand magic in the form of energetic trills and old-world audible slides. The concerto's notorious third movement takes off like a rocket and never stops. The entire orchestra also hurls through this movement at full momentum, making it both treacherous and thrilling. Fortunately, on Thursday it was thrilling, with Goosby traversing the quirky terrain at top speed while the orchestra kept securely synchronized, all the way to the frenzied end. The smiles, hugs and abundant applause came immediately, along with a standing ovation, but no encore. After intermission came "The Art of the Goal," Kahn's short film that featured the Los Angeles Football Club, a sort of music-video tribute to soccer, mixing drone shots and arty composites with game highlights, with action pivoting between slo-mo and fast-mo, in both visuals and music. Schoenberg's score, performed live by the orchestra as the film unfolded, began almost like a fanfare, turning to wonder, then busy excitement of the game and to epic celebration, with goal after goal depicted on screen. Definitely a service to fans of the sport!

Composer Adam Schoenberg (right) wrote the score for the short film by Josh Kahn, "Art of the Goal."

All this victory stood in contrast to the piece that followed, Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas' thorny "Sensemay�," a piece that depicts the ritual killing of a snake, following a poem by Cuban writer Nicol�s Guill�n. Piercing, clash-y, dissonant -- ominous. It seemed to come in waves of chaos, sounding to my 21st-century ears like a particularly hellacious traffic jam. Edgy - I liked it. This might be a good time to mention the man on the podium - Tito Mu�oz, who was performing his first-ever concert with the LA Phil. Mu�oz was Music Director of the Phoenix Symphony for 10 years, and just Thursday he was named Director and Principal Conductor of Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, where he also will serve as visiting professor of orchestral studies. I had not seen Mu�oz conduct before. He conducted the entire night without a baton, and for much of it, without a score. Besides the regular beat patterns, his gestural vocabulary included some unique moves such as vertical and horizontal hand slashes, "okay" thumbs, and facial gestures such as mouthing rhythms. The evening ended with a piece written at nearly the same time as "Sensemay�" - Aaron Copland's "Billy the Kid Suite," written in 1938 for American Ballet Caravan, about the 19th-century American outlaw. Quite the opposite of a claustrophobic commotion of the Revueltas, this music depicts the "open prairie" of the Old West and other such images in Copland's well-recognized "American" musical style. One of many highlights was toward the end of the "Prairie Night" movement, a beautiful trumpet solo by Thomas Hooten that put that movement to bed - before the punchy "Gun Battle." The music ended back on the open prairie - grand and triumphant - a great way to raise spirits so we could face the exodus from the Bowl and get straight back into the traffic jam of modern life! You might also like:

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For the Record, Op. 390: Sueye Park; cellist Matt Haimovitz

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 23:10:36 GMT

By Laurie Niles: Welcome to "For the Record," Violinist.com's weekly roundup of new releases of recordings by violinists, violists, cellists and other classical musicians. We hope it helps you keep track of your favorite artists, as well as find some new ones to add to your listening! Click on the highlighted links to obtain each album or learn more about the artists.

Violinist Sueye Park. Publicity photo courtesy Weller Artists.

Goldmark and Sibelius Sueye Park, violin Berlin Radio Orchestra, Valentin Egel conducting

Neighbors Matt Haimovitz, cello Stephanie Arado, violin University of Minnesota Chamber Singers, Matthew MeHaffey director

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The Week in Reviews, Op. 557: Paul Huang, Hilary Hahn, Timothy Ridout

Wed, 08 Jul 2026 18:42:36 GMT

By Laurie Niles: In an effort to promote the coverage of live violin performance, Violinist.com each week presents links to reviews of notable concerts and recitals around the world. Click on the highlighted links to read the entire reviews.

Violinist Paul Huang. Photo by Marco Borggreve.

Paul Huang performed Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the San Francisco Symphony and Chlo� Van Soeterst�de.

San Francisco Classical Voice: "In a wonderfully counterintuitive way, the Taiwanese artist downplayed technical showmanship and brought out the work�s alluring long lines and connective tissue. That�s not to suggest he lacked virtuosic chops, but rather that he put them to work in a suave, thoughtful and affecting account of the piece."

Hilary Hahn performed Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 with Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg and Omer Meir Wellber.

Bach Track: "The first half featured a fascinating (re)construction of Bruch�s First Violin Concerto, boldly replacing the original opening movement with Barbara Assiginaak�s newly commissioned Niibaashkaa � Travels at Night....Hahn rendered it with immense warmth and singing quality, remaining rigorously self-controlled and utterly devoid of calculated sentimentality. In the Finale, her playing exploded with rhythmic tension and heartfelt vitality, characterized by a bright and full-bodied tone."

Violist Timothy Ridout performed music focusing on Benjamin Britten with Britten Sinfonia and Thomas Larcher.

Bach Track: "Britten�s Lachrymae, in the late transcription for strings, is an important showpiece for the viola. It is a work I don�t particularly warm to it, however Ridout�s advocacy almost won me over. The fullness and beauty of his tone brought out all the mellow strengths of the instrument, and his refined sense of musical phrasing puts him in the top rank of performers on any instrument. The emergence of the Dowland theme in the final bars was exquisite played."

Gil Shaham performed the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and David Robertson.

Limelight: "...the auditorium was filled with the incomparably sweet tone, pure intonation and effortless technique of a virtuoso who has been praised for combining 'old world opulence' with modern precision. All the colours, layers and dynamic shifts were perfectly integrated between soloist, conductor and players."
The Brisbane Times: "What lifted this performance...was the maturity and shared vision that conductor, soloist and orchestra had toward integrating expression into the work�s grand architecture....As the movement unfolded, Shaham, Robertson and the orchestra showed intuitive mutual understanding achieved through close listening, each adjusting minutely to the other to create a flow of ideas like a calm but mighty river."

Benjamin Beilman performed Mendelssohn�s Violin Concerto in E minor with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and Anja Bihlmaier.

Limelight: "Beilman moved effortlessly from the opening movement�s ambiguous vocalics and marvellous cadenza through a serene C major cantabile to a sparkling, elfin finale..."

Leila Josefowicz performed Ligeti's Violin Concerto with the Colburn School Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen at the closing concerto of the Ojai Festival.

New Yorker: "I had been waiting more than thirty years to hear this concerto done so intensely....Josefowicz, in her decathlon of a performance, brought Ligeti�s savage discontinuities to the surface. She applied a thick, bristling tone and dispatched swirls of notation with meticulous abandon. At the same time, she attended to the primeval lyricism that shimmers through the work�s kaleidoscopic visions. "

Etienne Gara and Delirium Musicum performed at the Newport Classical Music Festival.

Boston Musical Intelligencer: "For each work the ensemble produced a full and vibrant soundscape, enhanced by the wondrous acoustics of the historic space of the mansion."

Cuarteto Quiroga, the Calidore String Quartet and Opus13 performed all three Beethoven Op. 59 "Razumovsky" quartets at Scotland�s East Neuk Festival.

Bach Track: "The ambition paid off triumphantly, with performances of dazzling commitment and audiences who couldn�t get enough of what they were hearing."

The St. Paul Chamber Music Institute featured six young musicians who had been working with the Jasper Quartet.

TwinCities.com: "The young players all chose challenging material to present, often at the edge of their ability. They therefore at times balanced displaying wonderful skill and revealing the bits of music that proved more difficult."

Please support live music in your community by attending a concert or recital whenever you can! You might also like:

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For the Record, Op. 389: Kerson Leong, Miclen LaiPang

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 16:56:31 GMT

Violinist Kerson Leong and pianist Jonathan Fournel.

Faur� Violin Sonatas and Transcriptions Kerson Leong, violin Jonathan Fournel, piano

Deep River Miclen LaiPang, violin Nigel Yandell, piano

If you have a new recording you would like us to consider for inclusion in our "For the Record" feature, please e-mail Editor Laurie Niles. Be sure to include the name of your album, a link to it and a short description of what it includes. You might also like:

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American Airlines Gets It Right for Eight Violinists

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 17:18:45 GMT

By Laurie Niles: We've heard the horror stories: a violin soloist forced to miss a flight - and to miss a concert appearance - because the airline wouldn't allow the instrument in the cabin. Or the violinist who is forced to take the instrument out of its case and hold it, unprotected, for the entire flight. And we all know about the broken guitars. But how about the flight crew that bent over backwards to accommodate not just one, but eight violinists and violists with their instruments, on a packed puddle-jumper?

Violinist Aimee Kreston and seven other string students all got their instruments into a packed flight on a tiny plane, thanks to American Airlines.

This "feel good" story comes via violinist Aimee Kreston, who was flying on American Airlines from Los Angeles, via Philadelphia, to Burlington, Vt., for the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, where she is a faculty member. "I have to say, with all the negative stories going around about airlines not letting people carry their violins, American Airlines gate staff and crew went totally out of their way for us," Kreston said. Kreston is the longtime concertmaster of the Pasadena Symphony, faculty member of the Colburn School and Chair of the String Department at Pasadena Conservatory of Music, and she was flying to the festival along with seven young violinists and violists. "When we were waiting to board the Burlington flight, it became really apparent that we were on a tiny plane," she said. They had to walk out to the plane, and as they did, crew members "were stressing that overhead baggage capacity was severely limited." The plane was tiny - "basically, my head hit the ceiling," Kreston said. Not only that, but the flight was completely packed; every single seat was filled. Nonetheless, the crew made sure that all the of their instruments flew safely in the cabin. "They got eight violins and violas on that one little plane, and they asked other people to check bags to accommodate," Kreston said. "Really, it was a stellar crew," Kreston said, giving a shout-out to flight attendants Katie Temple and Liz Uram. All the musicians stayed on board after the flight was over, to take a picture. "Bravo American Airlines!" Kreston said. The Green Mountain Music Festival, currently in its 22nd season, takes place from June 29 to Aug. 2, offering intensive solo and chamber study for violin, viola and cello students. The festival is led by violinist Elizabeth Chang, who is Artistic Director, and this year there are some 200 students in the senior program and 30 students in the junior program, with an impressive roster of 35 faculty members from around the globe. Here's hoping for a safe trip home, for musicians and their instruments! You might also like:

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LA Phil Appoints Ben Ullery Principal Viola

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 21:29:19 GMT

By Laurie Niles: Today the Los Angeles Philharmonic announced the appointment of Ben Ullery as Principal Viola, an appointment made by outgoing Music Director Gustavo Dudamel.

Violist Ben Ullery. Photo by Eliot Hazel, courtesy of the LA Phil.

Ullery has ascended through the ranks - he joined the LA Phil as a section violist in 2011 and won the Assistant Principal Viola position in 2012. He became Associate Principal Viola in 2023, and now Principal Viola. Ullery assumes a position last held by violist Teng Li, who joined the LA Phil as Principal Viola in 2018 and left in 2024 to become Principal Viola of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. A native of Saint Paul, Minn., Ullery earned his Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance from Oberlin Conservatory of Music and later studied violin at New England Conservatory of Music and viola at the Colburn School. He is a faculty member at the Colburn School, where he teaches orchestral repertoire and coaches the Colburn Orchestra�s viola section. He has performed as guest principal viola with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Australian Chamber Orchestra. He is also an active soloist and chamber performer. Ullery's appointment is one in a flurry of important new appointments in recent weeks at the LA Phil, including the appointment in late May of Daniel Harding as Music Director and the early June appointment of violinist Vineta Sareika as concertmaster. The appointments come as Dudamel completes his term as Music Director in August to begin as Music & Artistic Director of the New York Philharmonic in the fall. Dudamel will continue at the LA Phil as Artistic and Cultural Laureate. You might also like:

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The Week in Reviews, Op. 556: William Hagen, James Ehnes, Michelle Barzel Ross

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 15:28:52 GMT

Violinist William Hagen. Photo by Matt Clayton.

William Hagen performed Barber�s Violin Concerto with the Grant Park Orchestra and Kalena Bovell.

Chicago Classical Review: "Hagen forthrightly delivered the Allegro�s rhapsodic strains without indulging in schmaltz, with Bovell emphasizing Barber�s piquant orchestral writing. The violinist insistently posed the movement�s probing questions and Bovell facilitated a fluent dialogue with the orchestral backdrop."

James Ehnes performed the Schumann Violin Concerto at Mainly Mozart in La Jolla, Calif.

Broadway World: "I admired this performance. His double stops, double-stop trills, and swift scalic passages were spectacular."
San Diego Jewish World: "...in Ehnes� hands, it proved to be an engaging work with beautiful melodic passages, especially in the second movement....In case there was any doubt about the virtuosic capabilities of this artist, it was soon dispelled when he launched into Eugene Ysaye�s Sonata #3 as an encore. This one-movement sonata for unaccompanied violin served to display the violinist�s great technical prowess."

Chamberfest Cleveland featured Diana Cohen, Steven Copes, Geneva Lewis, Michelle Barzel Ross, violists Teng Li and Emad Zolfaghari and others in a program of works by Barzel Ross, Haydn and Hahn.

Bach Track: "It�s always a treat to hear composers perform their own work...Michelle Barzel Ross� string quartet 'Birds on the Moon' (2022) is dedicated to the late violist Roger Tapping...Composed as both a tribute and portrait, it calls for fine gradations of sound and impeccable technique."

LA Phil principal musicians were featured as soloists in a concert with Gustavo Dudamel.

Stage and Cinema: "The bulk of the program consisted of selections from concertos, divided into two parts, classical and modern, seemingly chosen simply for the joy of playing....I greatly enjoyed seeing our local musicians brought to the forefront of the LA Phil."

The Woolf Quartet performed at the Bradfield Festival of Music in Sheffield.

Bach Track: "This recital by the Woolf Quartet... successfully revealed four young musicians, barely into their infancy as a quartet, embracing established chamber music repertoire with the sort of fearlessness that shows that taking risks brings its own rewards....this feels like an ensemble with talent to burn and the confidence that comes from knowing it."

Cellist Stephen Isserlis performed the Dvorak Cello Concerto with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Bach Track: "The joy of hearing this concerto played on period instruments in a medium-sized venue like the Queen Elizabeth Hall was that the cello didn�t have to fight to make its voice heard. With extravagant bow flourishes, Isserlis lent an improvisatory air to the virtuosic first movement, the OAE revelling in its grandiose contributions. "

Please support live music in your community by attending a concert or recital whenever you can! You might also like:

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Colburn School Announces Recording Partnership with Delos

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 14:58:02 GMT

By Laurie Niles: Today the Colburn School announced a new recording partnership called the Colburn Collection with the label Delos. Delos is the U.S. flagship label for the Brussels-based Outhere Music, which acquired the California-based label in 2023. It will serve as the exclusive recording label for the Colburn Conservatory of Music and Music Academy. The Colburn Collection's first album, Storytellers, will feature Trio Azura, the current ensemble-in-residence at Colburn. The recording, to be released in September, will include John Harbison�s Trio II, Jennifer Higdon�s Piano Trio, and Charles Ives� Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano.

Trio Azura: violinist Duncan McDougall, pianist Yanfeng Tony Bai and cellist Yejin Hong. Photo by Shervin Lainez.

Trio Azura, which was formed at the school in 2022, includes violinist Duncan McDougall, cellist Yejin Hong and pianist Yanfeng Tony Bai. The trio recently won the 2025 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions and were appointed YCA Jacobs Fellows, becoming that organization�s first Ensemble-in-Residence. They also won the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in 2024. "Launching this partnership with Delos brings the exceptional talent of Colburn�s young artists to audiences worldwide," said Colburn President and CEO Sel Kardan. "Professional recordings play a vital role in bridging the gap between rigorous training and a sustainable, fulfilling career, while allowing artists to share their deep love for music and their craft." "I�m delighted to start this collaboration with Colburn," said Outhere Music Founder and President Charles Adriaenssen. "One of our missions is to support young talents, and there is no better partner to identify and nurture them than Colburn." Outhere Music will release the Delos Colburn Collection albums in both physical and digital formats, with the aim of two to three projects per year. Three subsequent albums are planned for 2026 and 2027, featuring Trio Caspar, with violinist Jason Moon, clarinetist Andrea Caputo and pianist Bogang Hwang; cellist James Baik and pianist Bogang Hwang; and violinist Ray Ushikubo. A special concert to celebrate the new partnership will feature all the Colburn Collection artists in live performance on Nov. 23 at Colburn�s Thayer Hall. You might also like:

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V.com weekend vote: What has helped you the most with sight reading?

Sun, 28 Jun 2026 21:02:06 GMT

By Laurie Niles: Learning to sight read music takes a long time - and even an element of devil-may-care risk.

It's rather complex. First, one needs to learn the notes on a theoretical level: What are the names of the notes on the staff? What are the values of the rhythms? How does it all relate to the instrument? But then one needs to put the reading into practice, in real time. This turns out to be a separate -- albeit related -- skill. The clock starts and you play the music on the page. This means that you aren't stopping along the way to figure out notes or rhythms or fingerings or bowings - you just GO, and the music on the page becomes music coming out of your instrument. How do you get to that stage? Well, as with playing an instrument, it takes practice. But what is the most effective way to practice sight reading? This week, I'm asking you, what has helped you most, when it comes to sight-reading. For me, it was playing in orchestra. This required giving up the idea of perfection and just diving in and making a mess of it in youth orchestra. I still remember my very first youth orchestra rehearsal (RIP Aurora Youth Symphony...): the first piece of music had a tremolo, divisi. I absolutely did not understand what I was seeing, and my first thought was "I am SUNK!" But as it turned out, nothing helped me more than sitting in orchestra, surrounded with people who were also reading the same music. It swept me along and forced me to read in real time. The orchestra was not going to stop for me to figure things out! Learning to sight read is a little like learning a foreign language. You can study a language all you want, but the real learning comes when you are living in the country where that language is spoken, immersed in it and almost forced to speak, listen and think in that language. There are other effective ways to get good at sight-reading - I know my students have been helped with some good apps for reading. What has helped you the most? Please participate in the vote and then share your thoughts about learning to sight read. You might also like:

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