Hi, I’m Sarah! I grew up in Japan, Ohio, and China. I began private violin lessons at age 8 and continued through High School and college. My first teacher was a Suzuki teacher, and I continued through the Suzuki method books through to the end of the series, though I had many different teachers from different countries who all brought different perspectives and approaches and additional methods to my training. During those years I participated in various string performing groups, most notably Cincinnati Junior Strings and the Blue Ash Youth Symphony. I also took private lessons in piano and was very active in choir and musical theater through High School. I participated in music exchange festivals as part of programs through International schools and performed solos in recital and school settings, where I was routinely Concertmaster. While there were no community orchestras for expat High School students in China, I had the opportunity to take private lessons from the concertmaster of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra. As I moved on from High School, mysterious injuries and pain while playing, as well as other priorities (an engineering degree, career, marriage, and two children) caused me to put violin in the back seat. After a car-totaling accident in 2015, I accepted that violin performance was lost to me as the previous problems were amplified. Neck pain and anxiety became my constants as I turned my life into a search for healing.
In January of 2018 in Cincinnati, Ohio, I met a certified Alexander Technique (AT) teacher, Jennifer Roig-Francoli (https://www.artoffreedom.me/), who gave me hope that I could learn to play violin without pain. This little-known-to-the-public method of body-mind integration is very helpful for performers of all kinds (ever heard of stress fractures? or professionals who have to quit? yeah, because nobody likes to talk about it…) and offered in many University and Conservatory settings. I participated in 6 months of in-person private and group classes with Jennifer before moving to Utah and transitioning to being a student in her online group classes.
As a mom of two very active young children, I apply AT ideas regularly — much more often than I actually get out my violin to practice. But that mental practice of observation, exploration, curiosity, etc., bleeds over to improve each actual violin practice session (and piano, and singing, and dance, and chopping vegetables…). It’s not about checking a box on hours practiced. It’s about learning how to practice smarter. Intentionally.
I want to give this gift to beginning students when learning to inhibit harmful patterns of thought and physical movement can be powerfully preventative, as well as help experienced students identify and replace long-established habits that are holding them back. Though I loved each of my teachers and the unique things they taught me about musicality and violin technique, this is something they could not give me. I cannot guarantee zero pain and complete habit transformation, as there are many pieces to that puzzle which are part of each individual’s journey. I CAN teach some simple processes that – if the student chooses to practice and apply them – will benefit him or her in his or her musical and non-musical life. Improving technique, musicality, enjoyment, and performance presence happens naturally as one learns the ideas and practices the processes.
Zen Violin 