violinist & educator

Dear friends, it has been too long since I’ve written and I apologize. Too much has happened in the last few months. If you haven’t heard already, Randy and I have gathered up enough courage to make the Big Move… the move back to Hawaii! But before we did that, I spent two long months at a opera festival in Castleton, VA, we packed our cluttered apartment in less than a month, and then we went on a 10-day cross-country road trip, basically to ship our car from San Diego to Hawaii (heck, it was only $1000). So we did it! I am now writing this entry from a high-rise apartment in Makiki in downtown Honolulu. Life’s been pretty good and the weather has been consistently beautiful everyday. I already have teaching jobs lined up: after school violin lessons at Punahou’s music school and undergraduate applied lessons at Brigham Young University in La’ie. Randy is lucky to keep his faculty job at NEC and is still doing his cocktail mixology thing on the side. We’re surrounded by family and friends so we never feel lonely. Life is sweet right now, so enjoy the pics…

This is most exciting time of year when everything is starting back up again out of the lazy, relaxing summer.  I was fortunate enough to teach one day a week during the summer to a bunch of dedicated students who wish to keep playing music and learn new skills.  By September, that handful number of students exploded into 30+ students for this semester!  While I’m excited to be touching people’s lives with music and knowledge, my schedule is filled to brim with driving up and down the Massachusetts coast.  Haha, this is surreal!  Let’s hope I don’t burn out too quickly.  Aside from teaching almost everyday, I have to keep up my playing chops and expand my freelancing career in Boston.  I’m definitely being more proactive about taking auditions and hopefully I can make good use of my musician’s union connections and bonuses.

Now back to teaching. For students who do read my blog, I want to encourage you to view a website called Violin Masterclass by Kurt Sassmanshaus, a well-known violin pedagogue in the traditional method.  I especially find great inspiration when watch his videos on basic things like the violin stance, bow hold and tone production, and various technique builder exercises for both hands.  Please take a look when you have the chance and bring some questions in your lessons for discussion.