Historically informed performance practice is for me not only about following the rules. It is about learning the language of the music we play, as well as we can. We can read all the treatises, know all the current research, and practice our instruments. This is all well and good, but this is then the foundation for what comes next. It is our jobs as musicians, no matter in which style, on which instrument we play, to work sounds we create in a way that creates meaning for our audiences. We as early music performers are co-creators. With our colleagues and with the composers who wrote the music, even when the composers are no longer living.

In teaching, I take a whole-person approach. Where we are in our studies greatly reflects where we are in our personal development. Music is a wonderful mirror into our psyche, and we must not only address the music on the page, but our egos, neuroses, and wounds. Like in our own personal development, the goal of music is not perfection but rather balancing our own idiosyncracies with getting along with those around us, deciding what is bringing us forward and what is holding us back.

First and foremost, I focus on building musical interpretation through knowledge and craft. Learning how to interpret the information on the page and know the places where we can make our own creative decisions is paramount.

Technique is approached in a way as to serve the musical expression. I focus a lot on the use of the body, as the historical instruments and the bodies that play them have a much closer connection to the creation of sound than the modern bassoon.

Lessons are offered in-person or online. Let me know via the contact page if you would be interested.