I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to become a teacher. I started teaching at a very young age, I was just a few years older than my students at the time and I admit that these were difficult times for me. I had to formulate my method of teaching without having had enough experience that would allow me to know what suggestions/ideas will prove to be most effective. It seems ages ago. Now I am in my 50’s after more than twenty years of daily teaching. During these years I have gained the needed experience to “read” the student that is in the room with me and conclude what of the many options might work for him or her specifically.

 

The main focus of my teaching is to allow the full potential of any given student to be realized. To be able to free the student as much as possible from physical, technical or psychological constraints and lead him/her into the wondrous world of music making with increased freedom and openness.

 

This goal is what makes teaching everlastingly interesting. Every student has different issues and the solutions and methods of arriving at the desired outcome can be very different in each case. Getting to know the reflexes, the hands, the mind and even the “soul” of the students makes teaching a daily adventure that I hope to be able to do for many years to come.

 

In the last few years I have had the opportunity to teach at The Perlman Music Program in the summer as well as the winter residency. Apart from my class at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and the Raanana Music Center I am also invited to teach in different universities as a guest as well as various summer programs. (Morningside Musical Bridges, Musethica and more). I am always taken with the amount of talent, commitment and excitement that is present in young musicians striving to better their art.

 

I define my role with a dual notion. On the one hand I teach the students more than music. I teach problem solving, stress management, body awareness, discipline , time management and more. On the other hand I limit my responsibility to making sure each and everyone is on the best possible path to realizing their innate potential without pinpointing the future as musicians and what they might actually do in life. I have the experience that those who must be on stage will find their own personal path.

 

Throughout the years I attempted to combine my teaching with a performing career. My approach was that if I am not fresh out of discovering new ideas for myself in rehearsals and on stage,  I would have difficulties in resonating excitement to students. This last challenging period of the Corona Pandemic has proven this notion to be wrong. I have had several months of being forced off the performance stage and found renewed interest and joy in teaching. I had time like never before to think of new ideas and try out different projects with my students. I found that apart from being saddened about missing the concert stage I was free to explore and appreciate my teaching world even more.

 

I look forward to many more years of exploration in the most rewarding and beautiful world of teaching.