I had THREE graduating seniors in my studio this year, all of whom I’d worked with for quite a long time. I’ve seen them go from great kids to fabulous young adults and am excited to hear about their adventures in college! I will miss seeing these folks so much, but am delighted to know them.
Brandon
I’ve taught Brandon since he was in third grade. He has come to every single lesson with a big enthusiastic smile (see left), and has always been eager to learn the next piece of music. I think he had a positive thing to say about nearly every piece we worked on in our 10 years of lessons! He has one of the most upbeat personalities I’ve ever had the pleasure to know. I was delighted that he has continued to study music through his busy high school years while he was also challenging himself academically and athletically - as you may have seen in my previous post, he’s a serious runner with a 4:32 mile time. He heads off to Florida Tech this fall to study aviation and plans to become a commercial pilot.
Claire
I started teaching Claire when she was in sixth grade. For many recitals in a row, she performed some of the great music from Star Wars on solo viola - no easy feat! She’s always had a self-driven enthusiasm for improving her skills on viola and has eagerly auditioned (and been accepted) to her District Honors Orchestras for many years. She’s a fabulous musician in her attention to detail and was principal violist in her South County High School orchestra. Claire’s a wonderfully kind, smart, and funny person. She’ll be studying electrical engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology this year.
Jaelyn
Jaelyn began taking lessons with me in second grade. In addition to being a fabulous violinist, she is also an accomplished pianist - pictured at left at her piano & violin senior solo recital in May. She’s filled her time with music-making since she was quite young, participating in the American Youth Philharmonic Orchestras for many years, Governor’s School for piano, and was accepted into the All-Virginia Orchestra for 3 years. She is fun, light-hearted, and humble, while also being a dedicated and highly-focused musician and student. Jaelyn is heading to the University of Virginia to major in mathematics.