My Background
I am a Juilliard-trained concert violinist with 20+ years of teaching experience.
Since making my concert debut at thirteen years old, I’ve appeared in hundreds of performances on five continents.
I’ve served on the faculty of The Juilliard School and the University of Chicago. I’ve taught masterclasses and clinics at the Peabody Institute of Music, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, Dartmouth College, the Longy School of Music of Bard College, McGill University, and the Interlochen Summer Arts Academy.
I’ve worked with musicians of all ages and levels, and maintain a small private studio of enthusiastic violin students that I teach in person and online. I’m excited to open my studio to more students and space is limited!
My Approach & Philosophy
I’m looking for students who’ve been studying for a few years and are looking to accelerate their learning or challenge themselves to learn new techniques, approaches and styles.
I’ll help you develop a strong technical foundation drawing from various traditional schools of violin technique. And I’ll guide you through the traditional studies and repertoire that are necessary for building a thoroughly developed technique that’ll allow you complete artistic freedom.
Rather than technique for technique’s sake, I believe in teaching you technique in order to help you sound your best, express yourself, and have fun doing it!
I’ll also work with you on understanding the music history and the building blocks of harmony and structure to help you develop your music theory chops, too, so that you’ll hopefully find more meaning in the music and love the pieces you’re learning even more.
I can also provide in-between lesson support in the way of shared videos and audio to support you in your private practice time.
I also love teaching you stuff I’ve learned from fiddling, improvising, creating simple arrangements, and learning by ear, which are skills that are not only important to our musical development but also enhance our musicianship and overall enjoyment of playing.
In addition, I’ll share with you the skills I’ve learned from participating in the Mindfulness-Based Stress Management Program, as outlined by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, which can enhance the efficacy of your practice and help you manage negative self-talk that might be getting in the way of your development.
Ultimately, I believe my main task as a teacher is one of facilitating. I’m here to be your guide and resource as you move through your own personal musical journey.
What to Expect
First, we’ll start with an initial consultation, where you’ll tell me your goals for your violin playing. Maybe you want to learn the Mendelssohn violin concerto? Maybe you want to create your own arrangements for solo violin? Maybe you want to polish your double stops? We’ll work together to create a pathway forward to develop your violin playing and help you reach your goals.
Then, we’ll make a plan to jumpstart your playing. This can include assigning and discovering new pieces, building up to repertoire you’ve always wanted to play, or even returning to pieces you’ve played before. I’ll offer you constructive, focused feedback to help you develop your playing so you feel satisfaction and enjoyment when you play.
Finally, we’ll work together to custom design lessons and a schedule that will work for you and your particular needs and lifestyle.
My Promise to You
I’ve worked with some great teachers – but also some who were really unclear and sometimes even quite harsh about what to do and how to do it. If you, too, have had teachers in the past who impatiently expected you to be somewhere other than where you’re at, don’t worry. I’ll meet you right where you are, providing lots of specific advice on how to improve your violin playing, so that through our work together, you’ll feel more confident about your skills – and most importantly, you’ll have more fun playing too.
What Students Say
I’m so grateful that I get to study with Tricia, and even more than that, I so appreciate her perspective and presence in my life. I really mean it; it’s been a joy to play and think about violin again and especially to think about it at this level. But also, thinking about the connections between violin and mindfulness and playfulness and mental health/life have been deeply rewarding for me, so I feel incredibly fortunate to be working with Tricia. Thank you for adding all that to my life, and for all the guidance and support – I’m so glad to be working with you!
DR. KYLE BRINTZ
Psychiatrist
Tricia is a musician and instructor of all-around excellence. While studying with her, I’ve grown exponentially in musicality and performance confidence. Tricia is highly effective in growing my musicianship in that she teaches performance styles beyond traditional classical performance. Under her guidance, I’ve learned various fiddling techniques and have grown to love learning traditional Celtic, American, and other fiddle tunes by ear. This has also been effective at growing my knowledge and confidence with my instrument. Most importantly, perhaps, Tricia inspires beyond the art of musical performance and interpretation; she is an excellent mentor and I’m lucky to study with such an inspiring teacher who helps me grow within and beyond the realm of music.
MARGARET QUINN
Accountant
Tricia is a wonderfully talented musician and I’m lucky to have studied with her. Not only is she an exceptional educator, but she’s also a fantastic virtuoso, performer and artist. Tricia tirelessly suggests and demonstrates methods of achieving technical goals with clarity and creativity. She never ceases to experiment in the explanation of ideas and she advocates the importance of examining music intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. She encouraged my cultivation of personhood and guided me in integrating this into my playing. Tricia’s wisdom and endless ability to consider possibilities makes the time we spend in lessons indescribably special and invaluable. Musically, philosophically, and spiritually, she pushes me to dig deeper in a way that I’ve never experienced before. With Tricia, I learned much more than technical proficiency; I learned how to execute my artistic vision through the merriment of music-making.
Audrey Hayes
Violinist, Vocalist, Arranger
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Amazing, I’m so glad you’re here! The great news is that all the skills you learned before are still with you and I can help you rediscover them. Just like reconnecting with an old friend, the awesome thing about having learned to play when you were younger is that those skills never really go away. You have a whole backlog of experiences and knowledge that will help you as you start playing again and I’ll be there to guide you and provide reminders along the way.
You are not alone! I also struggle with this and most professional and amateur musicians do, too. Growing up, I always thought that my lessons were like tests, where I had to play perfectly in order to get a passing grade. Maybe you’ve felt a similar pressure before in your violin lessons. Instead, we’ll create a plan to keep you playing with short assignments and mini-deadlines as well as the accountability of regular lesson times that’ll be your sacred playing time. Even if you don’t practice at all in between lessons, you’ll always know you’ll have our lessons as built in practice/playing time for you each week. How often do I take lessons with you? Weekly? Monthly? Every student had different goals, as well as availability. Depending on what you are hoping to accomplish, we can tailor a schedule to meet your unique, specific needs.
Oh, I hear you and I’ve been there! It’s really tough to improve when you are practicing all alone in a vacuum. When we’re stuck, sometimes the best thing we can do is stop trying so hard. I’ll find cool things for you to read and listen to that you can model and will give you a boost of inspiration. Sometimes all we need is to listen to how someone else is playing something and mimic it, to find the permission we need to try something new. Together, we’ll trial and error things, figure out what we love, and learn how we can do it, too.
Every student had different goals, as well as availability. Depending on what you are hoping to accomplish, we can tailor a schedule to meet your unique, specific needs.
It doesn’t have to be so hard!
I’ll help you so you don’t have to struggle alone in your violin practice, or feel like you’re spinning your wheels.
Through clear goal setting and gentle accountability, you’ll gain more confidence, hear improvement, and increase enjoyment in your violin playing. No matter where you are in your violin playing, I’ll help you have more fun, and develop more ease in your practice.
I’m looking forward to helping you fulfill your violin playing goals. Fill out the form above to get started, and I’ll be in touch within 24 hours.
Looking forward to talking to you!
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