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Sarah Bish teaches Suzuki cello group class and private cello lessons at Silver Music. Here is a bit of insight into her early study:
Age you began studying: 5 years old
Why did you choose the cello? My mother is a violin teacher so at first I started playing the violin when I was 3/4 but I have never been a fan of the E string, so I told her that I wanted to play the “jello.” Probably because of the amazing C string and warm sound. The rest is history!
One memory from your lessons or early study:
Even in my 30 minute lessons, my teacher, Marianne Wion, would give me a break and I always got a piece of chocolate. She was from Switzerland so it was really good chocolate.
Did you always like to practice? If not, how did you, or your parent motivate you to practice? I think that “liking” practicing and feeling successful in a practice session are two different things. There are (and definitely were) days that I don’t want to practice, but I knew that even a short amount of efficient and focused practicing makes a big difference in my cello playing. When I was younger I had sticker charts and getting jelly beans for good practicing. I still use rewards today for myself and my students, although now I prefer Skittles to jelly beans…
Did you ever want to quit?
No, definitely not. There are some days when you realize that what we are doing is really hard and sometimes it would be easier not to play, but whenever I have to go a few days without playing, I miss it. That makes me remember that I could never not play the cello.
How did music education affect your life?
I have had teachers (cello teachers, chamber music coaches, other role models) who showed me that being a musician is so rewarding. I am a very goal-oriented person so working on a piece satisfies my want to learn and improve my technique, and then polishing it and finding the beauty satisfies the artistic side of my personality.
Do you have a musical role model?
All of my cello teachers- Madeleine Golz, Merry Peckham, Astrid Schween, and Jonathan Spitz. As a female cellist, Jacqueline Du Pré is the ultimate inspiration!
Current Favorite Suzuki Piece:
It’s hard to pick! I love The Two Grenadiers, Danse Rustique, and French Folk Song.
Any advice for budding string-players?:
Try to have fun when things get tough! I know practicing can feel like a chore, but when you realize how much you are improving, that is the best feeling in the world.
What else do you enjoy doing besides playing cello?
I love baking! I am not that great at it, but my fiancé doesn’t seem to complain. I also love to watch nature documentaries and doing puzzles to relax.
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Zara (Zadie) Lawler teaches Suzuki flute lessons, flute group classes, Flute Readiness, and Ready, Set, Play! at Silver Music.
Name: Zara Lawler, but everyone calls me Zadie
Age you began studying: 9
Why did you choose the flute? This is kind of a silly story. I had started on piano when I was in 4th grade. My father played the piano all the time and I thought it would be really fun, but the teacher and I were not a good match, and the piano and I were not a good match either! So, the summer after 4th grade, I took drum lessons as our local public school summer music program. I chose the drum because I loved banging on things in cool patterns and drums looked so exciting. In reality, I found it to be very boring! All my friends were playing either flute or clarinet and having such a good time playing tunes and songs…so I thought I would switch AGAIN to either flute or clarinet. How to decide? In the end, I chose the flute because I thought it had a cooler case. Lucky for me, it turned out to be the Best Instrument In The World!
One memory from your lessons or early study: My first performance was London Bridge is Falling Down, played for my whole elementary school. Afterwards, I cried because my tone was so airy! I had only been playing for about a month at that time… Anyway, I always think of that while working with my own students on making a beautiful sound.
Did you always like to practice? If not, how did you, or your parent motivate you to practice? At first, I didn’t really understand what practice was all about…I think mostly because my parents were both musical but I never saw them practice. My father would just sit down at the piano, and out would come the Maple Leaf Rag, sounding complicated and amazing. And at first, it didn’t take much work for me to progress on the flute. But I do remember distinctly learning to practice when I was in 7th grade, and I wanted to audition for a better seat in band. I had to play a really tricky passage from the theme song to MASH, a TV show Silver Music parents might remember! It was the first time I ever really had to work out how to get my fingers and my air to work together to be consistently successful. It was like I could feel the neural pathways forming themselves as I worked out how to play it and then how to play it over and over again the same way.
Did you ever want to quit? I did not ever want to quit but every once in a while I’ve gotten so frustrated I feel like throwing the flute out the window. Thankfully, I have never actually done that!
Current Favorite Suzuki Piece: I love the Woodall Serenade in Book 3, and also By the Brook in Book 7. I’ll be performing both at Flute Day at the Suzuki Music School in Westport CT on March 22: https://www.suzukischools.org/pillow-concerts
Any advice for budding flute-players?: Don’t wait until 7th grade to learn how to practice!
What else do you enjoy doing besides playing flute? In addition to being a Suzuki teacher, I’m also a Suzuki parent, and I am having a lot of fun learning about the cello, and learning about what this whole Suzuki triangle thing is like from the parent side.
NY Philharmonic
Saturday, Feb 1, 2pm
David Geffen Hall
This concert begins with Dvorak’s String Sextet and follows with Elgar’s famous Enigma Variations. An inspiring concert for our string players! Tickets start at $34
The Munchkins Piano Trio
Saturday, Feb 1, 4pm
Book Culture LIC
Have you said hello to the violin, cello or piano recently? Join us for our new, sparkly program for piano trio! Enjoy works from Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Mozart, and more! Tickets start at $35. Kids FREE
Very Young People’s Concert: Strings
Sunday, Feb 2, 12:30pm and 3pm
Merkin Hall
Mini musicologists can join host Becky Young and members of the New York Philharmonic for a playdate with classical music—the three-concert season begins with an introduction to stringed instruments. Tickets start at $26
Orchestra of St. Luke’s
Thursday, Feb 6, 8pm
Carnegie Hall
Hear the Orchestra of St. Luke’s perform works by Vivaldi and Handel–there’s something for everyone at this concert for with string, winds, and vocal music featured. Tickets start at $12.50
Beethoven String Quartets
Friday, Feb 7, 7:30pm
Alice Tully Hall
Throughout the month of February, The Danish String Quartet will be performing Beethoven’s 16 string quartets in the order that Beethoven composed them, between 1798 and 1826. The first concert is February 7th! Tickets start at $15 .
MSM Pre-College Faculty
Saturday, Feb 8, 3:30pm
Manhattan School of Music
Come hear our flute teacher, Zara Lawler, perform with other Manhattan School of Music faculty. She’ll be performing “By the Brook” which is in Suzuki Book 7! FREE
Sonatenabend
Wednesday, Feb 19, 7pm
Paul Recital Hall
Pianists from Juilliard’s Collaborative Piano department perform sonata repertoire in partnership with student instrumentalists. FREE
Mark O’Connor & Maggie O’Connor PUBLIQuartet
Monday, February 24, 7:30pm
Advent Lutheran Church, 2504 Broadway
Hear fiddle players Mark O’Connor and Maggie O’Connor joined by the PUBLIQuartet. Reserve FREE tickets.
Poetry and Music
Friday, Jan. 3, 7pm
The New York Public Library
This evening of American poetry and Beethoven recordings focuses on the themes of healing, gratitude, and self-discovery, incorporating manuscripts and rare recordings from The New York Public Library’s archival collections. FREE
Backstage Violin Recital
Sunday, Jan. 5, 4:30pm
Silver Music Tiemann Place
Check out our newly renovated space at 45 Tiemann Place while enjoying works for violin and piano by one of our alumni violin students. The program will be less than an hour and a wonderful opportunity for our violin students to hear another student perform at a high level. FREE
Meet The Music!
Sunday, Jan. 12, 2pm
Alice Tully Hall
Beethoven himself will appear in Alice Tully Hall to help a young pianist play his music as he meant it to be played. Tickets start at $10
APAP Showcase
Sunday, Jan. 12, 2:20-3:20pm
Ailey Studio Theatre
Come see and hear our flute teacher, Zara Lawler, perform in three collaborative performances (The Flute on Its Feet, Lawler + Fadoul and The Fourth Wall) featuring the flute, percussion and movement! Wonderful for our flute students and our RSP kids! FREE
ChamberFest2020
Wednesday, Jan. 15, 1pm
Alice Tully Hall
Juilliard artists share their talent with the community in these hour-long lunchtime concerts on Wednesday afternoons throughout the season. FREE
Sonatenabend
Wednesday, Jan 22, 6pm
Pianists from Juilliard’s Collaborative Piano department perform sonata repertoire in partnership with student instrumentalists. FREE
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Saturday, Jan. 25, 7pm
Orpheus performs the world premiere of Jessie Montgomery and Jannina Norpoth’s arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons. This collection of piano miniatures is paired with Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, performed by violinist Vadim Gluzman. Tickets start at $25
Joao Kouyoumdjian teaches Suzuki guitar lessons and guitar group class at Silver Music.
Age you began studying:
12 years old
Why did you choose the guitar?
I felt a strong desire to play the music that I enjoyed back then – Rock n’ Roll. At first, that was my intrinsic motivation. I later flirted with Jazz and Bossa Nova before finally learning how to read music and diving into classical music.
One memory from your lessons or early study:
I remember when my first guitar teacher – the Brazilian guitarist Preto Moreno – had me improvise on a one-octave G major scale. A whole new world of freedom, imagination, beauty and joy opened up for me and I was never the same. I was completely hooked.
Did you always like to practice? If not, how did you, or your parent motivate you to practice?
I always locked myself inside my room and practice for hours, no matter how joyful and painful that was. I always did what I thought had to be done to make music according to certain standards, driven by an internal necessity to transcend reality.
Although my parents were always supportive, they never played any role on my practicing habits (and remember I started a little “late”, if you take into account the absence of a childhood music education). I was a self-motivated teenager. In the beginning I didn’t have much practice discipline as far as practicing techniques but I acquired it later on, when music studies intensified and got more serious.
Did you ever want to quit?
Never. I thought of professionally becoming a doctor at one point though, like my parents, but music soon took over. Even if I did take another career path, I doubt I would stop practicing, even if as an amateur.
How did music education affect your life?
It gave me a purpose, a meaning. Since it began it has been my reason to live. It made me see long-term goals and has fostered life skills such as patience, determination and courage.
Do you have a musical role model?
My former guitar teacher – the Brazilian guitarist Paulo Martelli – is a great inspiration. I admire his firm convictions on art and life in general (even if I disagree with them), and above all his fearlessness attitude towards music making.
Current Favorite Suzuki Piece:
Lightly Row – That is a magic moment when I can usually get students initiated on phrasing. They start to understand what lies behind and in between notes and make artistic choices such as crescendos, decrescendos, forte, pianos, rallentandos, etc. That’s when music transforms itself into a canvas where they can express themselves.
Any advice for budding guitar-players?
Keep your passion and motivation alive! If you have patience and put in the work, everything eventually falls in place. Stay away from teachers that shut down your enthusiasm. As the great British guitarist Julian Bream once said: “Passion and desire to communicate; that’s the key”
What else do you enjoy doing besides guitar?
In my spare time I enjoy reading, singing, playing cards and watching movies.
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Chamber Music Recital
Sunday, Dec. 1, 12-5pm (various times)
Come hear Juilliard students perform chamber music in an hour long recital. A wonderful opportunity for our own Chamber Music students! FREE
Chloe Kiffer Violin Recital
Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2pm
Hear works by Strauss, Stavinsky, Ravel, and more! Performed by violinist Chloe Kiffer and pianist, Alexandre Moutouzkine.
Baroque Violin Recital
Tuesday, Dec. 3, 6pm
Interested in hearing what Baroque violin music actually would have sounded like? Come hear Julliard students perform works on Baroque violin. FREE
Young People’s Concerts: A Composer’s Toolkit
Saturday, Dec. 7, 2pm
David Geffen Hall
Audiences will explore how tradition and new concepts, from grand musical statements to atmospheric sounds, create a timeless art form. Music Director Jaap van Zweden conducts. Tickets start at $16
Candlelight Carol Festival
Sunday, Dec. 15, 4pm
Riverside Church
This service of music and light combines carillon, organ, harp, and all of the choirs of The Riverside Church. Musical prelude begins at 3:30 p.m. Tickets are $25-$35
Flute Storytime
Monday, Dec. 16, 4:30-5:00
Join us for 30 delightful minutes of flute-playing and story time. This session of storytime will feature one book about Christmas and one book about Hanukkah! $5 suggested donation
A City Singing at Christmas
Thursday, Dec. 19, 7pm
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
An evening of traditional and contemporary Christmas hymns and carols sung by The Young People’s Chorus of New York City. FREE
New York String Orchestra
Saturday, December 28, 8pm
Carnegie Hall
Come hear the New York String Orchestra perform Mendelssohn’s Sinfonia No. 10 in B Minor (written when he was just 12!), Brahms’ Symphone No. 1 and Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto performed by Shannon Lee. Tickets start at $12.50