The Galloway Violin Studio is hosting a two day workshop for students of violin and viola February 17-18 2023. We will be offering special classes for young musicians Suzuki books 1-7/ABRSM grades 1-8. Our guest teaching coaches will be Margaret Parkin (BSMA violin/viola teacher trainer) from Oxford,  Ellen Martin (BSMA cello teacher) from Ayr, and Cate Howard (SAA & BSMA violin/viola teacher, workshop director) from Castle Douglas. It is our intention in creating and hosting this workshop to have students arrive open to learning & interested in growing their musical skills; and that they will leave the workshop with a renewed sense of motivation, excited to continue developing their instrumental abilities while striving for high and higher levels of excellence! 

PARTICIPANTS ARE INVITED TO SIGNUP TO PLAY IN ANY OF THE FOLLOWING ACTIVITIES:                  

MASTER CLASSES (15 / 20 / 30 minutes in length) violin/viola. Participants will be sharing hour blocks with other students, each student having a one-on-one coaching with our teacher AND also observing the other students taking their lessons. Master class participants should come to this class with a well-prepared fluent piece of music. It is recommended that selected repertoire be familiar to the point of memorisation. 

SUZUKI GROUP CLASS will be a mixed level class open to all violin and viola students.  We will touch on tone production, explore techniques, and grow our sense of 'play' inside ourselves and with other young musicians. Our focus repertoire will include: 

• BOOK 1: Twinkles to Perpetual Motion, Minuet 2 

• BOOK 2: Hunters' Chorus, Long Long Ago, Waltz

CHAMBER ORCHESTRA designed for students playing and reading Suzuki/ABRSM levels 3-7. In this class we will further develop ensemble skills specific to the scores we study, while also highlighting what it is to collaborate with each other through layered listening, awareness, balance, and positive energy. Our focus repertoire will be:

• excerpt from The Snowman for string quartet by Howard Blake

• Canzonetta from Mendelssohn String Quartet Op 12  

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE:

FRIDAY 17/2

LATE AFTERNOON & EVENING @ Courtyard Cottage Parton DG7 3NB

• Master class lessons with Margaret Parkin

SATURDAY 18/2

MORNING @ Parton Village Hall DG7 3NE

• Tonalisation and Suzuki Group Class (for ALL violin and viola participants)

• Chamber Orchestra 

AFTERNOON @ Courtyard Cottage Parton DG7 3NB

• Master class lessons with Margaret Parkin / Ellen Martin

Teacher observers are welcome!

FEES:

Master Class lessons

15 min @ £10 (recommended for Suzuki/ABRSM levels 1-3)

20 min @ £15 (recommended for Suzuki/ABRSM levels 4-5)

30 min @ £20 (recommended for Suzuki/ABRSM levels 6+)

Suzuki Group Class / Chamber Orchestra 

Chamber Orchestra participants - we would love to have you participate in the mixed level violin/viola Suzuki Group Class. The fee for this class is included in your Chamber Orchestra registration fee!

£15/student

Registration deadline: January 31st, 2023

[For easy reference BACS information is available in registration form and here: fees payable to C. Howard sort: 80-45-73 account# 10803861]

A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT OUR WORKSHOP TEACHERS...

Canada native Margaret Parkin began her musical studies as a Suzuki violin student with Richard Lawrence at the age of 4. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance from Queen's University (Canada) and a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from McGill University where she studied under the direction of Iwan Edwards. She is a graduate of the British Suzuki Music Association, chair of the BSMA Events Committee, a ESA Violin Teacher Trainer, and director of BSMA Violin Teacher Training in London. Margaret is the director of the Oxford Suzuki String Group where she maintains a private studio of violin and viola students. She has previously served as director of the Exeter Suzuki String Group, as a member of faculty at the Suzuki String School of Guelph, and director of the Guelph Youth Music Centre String Orchestras. She is a regular guest clinician and conductor at workshops and institutes in Canada, the UK, and Europe. Her most rewarding and challenging role is that of Suzuki parent to her inquisitive teenage son.

Ellen Martin began her career in Birmingham where she taught for the Birmingham Music Service and at the Birmingham Conservatoire Junior Department. She also studied in London with the British Suzuki Music Association at this time. She relocated to Scotland sixteen years ago and runs the Ayr Suzuki Cello Group. Ellen is the founding teacher of the award winning string project in East Ayrshire and has taken her groups to many conferences and events including a performance with James Macmillan in the House of Lords. She also teaches for the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and is a cello mentor for Music Masters in London. Ellen hopes to become an instructor for the European Suzuki Association as she enjoys helping and learning from her colleagues and the wonderful sense of family that comes from being a Suzuki teacher.

Cate Howard has studied and played the violin since the age of six. A graduate of University of Witwatersrand School of Music (LMus performance and pedagogy), Cate continued post graduate studies with Jascha Brodsky in Philadelphia Pennsylvania and Igor Ozim in Köln Germany. She has had many years of teacher training through the Suzuki Association of the Americas and BSMA, has performed and taught in the US, South Africa, Tanzania, Germany, Scotland. Parallel to running private violin/viola studios, Cate has held string faculty teaching positions at Settlement Music School Philadelphia, Musikschule Marburg Germany, Umoja Music School Tanzania, New England Conservatory Boston, RCS Junior Conservatoire Glasgow, Wellington School Ayr. Cate published her first book 'How the Violin Plays the Violinist' in 2008, and is currently the director of the Galloway Violin Studio based in Castle Douglas, Scotland.

AFTER YOUR REGISTRATION HAS BEEN SUBMITTED...

You will receive a confirmation email. 

Once registration closes on January 31st detailed schedules will be emailed for master classes, ensemble classes and chamber orchestra. Chamber Orchestra participants will be sent PDFs of their parts as soon as their registration has been submitted and processed by Cate. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION or QUESTIONS please contact

Cate Howard

chowardsasc@gmail.com

07900 076745 (m)

We look forward to having you join us!