cellochan philosophy

Mission
To help students experience the joy of music-making;
To employ the cello as a tool in the work of self-esteem;
To cultivate service to others through music

Group Classes and Special Events at:
The First Unitarian Universalist Church
4001 Ann Arbor Saline Rd.
Ann Arbor, MI. 48103
(Exit I75, off of I94)
Church Phone: 734-665-6158

Concerts and other activities also take place at other locations.

Private lessons are held at Suzanne's home studio.

The cellochan program: The following activities enhance private study and participation is optional.

• Master Classes: Each year cellochan invites a guest artist to give a Master Class for students who wish to participate. Some of our cellists have been: Nina Deverich * Juilliard School Graduate. Ms. Marcy Chanteaux * Acting Principal of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Bruce Uchimara * Professor of cello at Western Michigan University. Diane Winder * Professor of cello at Eastern Michigan University. This coming year 2008/09 Suzanne will be giving two master classes a semester in place of student's regular lesson. Attendance by other cellists is strongly encouraged.
• One Scholarship Yearly: This includes all services.
• Cello Chamber Ensembles:
  1. The "CelloChanWoods" cello ensemble. This meets once a month and performs twice a year. Intermediate and advanced levels.
  2. The adult cello group. This group is made up of adult students and is eligible to perform at various cellochan events.
  3. "Young Cellists" group - ages 5-9: This group meets once a month and serves to help young cellists get to know each other and to learn simple chamber pieces for group cello.
• Guest lecture or demonstration: This event is an added educational opportunity for students and parents to broaden their musical horizons. It happens every other year. The event, sometimes given by University of Michigan Faculty, former students, or other community members complements private study.
• Recitals: There are three formal recitals per year, usually held in November, February, and May at venues to be decided. Past concerts have taken place at Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor, The Rudolph Steiner High School in Ann Arbor, and The First Unitarian Universalist Church of Ann Arbor to mention a few.
• Occasional Concert outings: cellochan sometimes attends concerts together!
• Competition Opportunities: I encourage my students to compete when the opportunity arises and there is a desire to do so.
• Home Concerts: These are informal performances that are also social events. They are kept to a minimum of 6 performers and last about an hour. Suzanne oversees and provides guidance. Performers always bring the treats and hosts provide the "hall." Students are not required to play in home concerts, but the opportunity is there. Students are invited by Suzanne to participate though are encouraged to ask to do so.
• Service Concerts: cellochan performs at least one service concert per year and it is a favorite of many students. These are concerts in hospitals and homes for the elderly. Last year we did a "mini-tour" in December and played three concerts in one day at different nursing homes with a party afterwards. For the past 6 years we have played at the University of Michigan Hospital on the Gift of Arts series.

cellochan teaches the cello from a wide perspective. The following are some thoughts related to the cellochan philosopy:

• Students learn best when they feel safe to explore and make mistakes
• Students always have abilities that are hidden to them
• Students can bridge the gap between the need to express and an often-limited technique to do so with patience, determination, support, analysis and observation. Self acceptance is the foundation and of course ...regular practice.
• There is an art to practicing. Good practicing can be taught.
• Everyone has something to say and is, to some degree, musical.
• Studying the cello has a lot more to offer than just being able to manipulate the instrument to produce sounds.
• One can learn a lot about oneself playing the cello. And along with that one can overcome old obstacles, of all kinds, in the process.
• Serving others through music is not just about playing concerts. By making a real connection to the cello, you are connecting more deeply to yourself. You are more integrated. And I believe that is a service to you and others.
• Each student learns and progresses differently
• The ebb and flow of cello study is natural. Those that quit during an ebb never find out "what might have been" just over the next hill. There is a reason people rush backstage for an autograph after a superb concert. People instinctively know that a lot of patience and hard work went into producing a performance that was so able to move them.
• The instrument is like a mirror.
• Having fun is a big part of playing and learning, not withstanding some of the more serious ideas stated above. The fun happens when self is forgotten and the activity itself "takes over."
• People have no idea, many times, what is holding them back in various ways on the instrument.
• Listening to live music is a very important part of your cello study
• Encouraging others is a great way to get your mind off of your own worries and back to the task at hand. In Zen there is a saying: "Fall down 7, get up 8"
• Finally, a quote from a very famous Chinese Zen master and mentor, Master Sheng Yen: "Your mind creates your world."

What are some differences between cellochan and other studios?

I think every studio is a combination of the particular teacher's artistic temperament, training, and perspective on people and life. Here are a few things a student would find in any good cello studio:

1. Emphasis on the importance of regular practice.
2. Knowledge of correct cello technique by teacher.
3. Ongoing exploration of musical expression in light of the particular music and technical demands.
4. Teacher is able to demonstrate what is being taught.
5. A reliable, reasonably regular lesson schedule.
6. A strong dedication to the process on the part of the teacher.
7. Having the right materials and tools.

But there are other things that, (though they may be involved in all good studios to one extent or another) I am perhaps more interested in emphasizing. Here is a list of those things the cellochan studio is especially interested in:

1. There is an emphasis on calming the mind, emotions, and body. Skill is best acquired from a state of awareness, comfort and ease. Last summer I did a project called Music, Mind, and Body with a physical therapist and Trager practitioner. 6 students had 6 hour and a half long sessions consisting of: a cello lesson, short meditation sessions, and time on the Trager table. Trager is a type of relaxation massage that brings people to a state of deep relaxation. We were interested in how a more complete mind and body connection could help unify and clarify the many demands of cello playing. It was a great success in helping students use their bodies more efficiently and in freeing musical expression. There was less frustration and conflict. It's amazing how many people are not aware of how they move or what their body is doing in the moment. Power is not force, but is the freedom to flow.
2. The cello should be a refuge and a joy as well as a challenge, in my view. Not a chore. Easier said than done! One learns to sit and work from a state of calm focus.
3. Support from me and other students in cellochan is a top priority. Negative competition is not at all necessary or productive. cellochan explores alternative routes to excellence and more positive ways to use competition.
4. cellochan has created more performance opportunities (and other educational events surrounding the private lesson) than most studios. I believe this helps students become used to performing as opposed being limited to a few "shots" at it a year. An example of another difference is an event called "Mentor Morning" where more advanced students help beginners prepare for cellochan concerts.
5. Mistakes are seen for what they are, steps along the path of learning mastery. This is an idea that needs to be hammered home more often, and I do.

I have been interested in Eastern philosophy and psychology for many years. These interests have contributed greatly to my teaching style. The cello is seen almost as a tool for meeting oneself as well as for creating beauty. I often say, music is not in you.... it is you. So, to recap, I believe the whole person has to be taken into account when learning the cello because people, more often than not, have resistances and other issues that block their expression. Many times these blocks are misinterpreted as lack of ability or talent. My goal is to optimize the chance that a person can find a way to his/her music through a combination of techniques I use in my particular approach. There is a kind of "doing"(that is far too common in my view) without being fully present. No matter what level of mastery one is aspiring to on the cello, or anything for else for that matter, one can benefit from the process of being fully there and fully engaged. The rewards, as one might imagine, go way beyond cello playing.

Is there a perfect age to begin the cello?

I believe that every situation is unique in life from moment to moment. The same holds true of people. We are all different. So nailing down a one size fits all "best age" cannot really be done without first seeing the child, as I see it. However, that said, a few children may be ready at age 3 or 4, while some are not ready until around 8 to 10. Isaac Perlman, the famous violinist, likes age 5 as a general starting age and I basically agree with him in general. Parents should certainly take the child to concerts and expose him/her to music in all sorts of other ways. To quote Pablo Casals (my teacher's teacher) once again: "I always practiced as if I had forever." Think about that. It gives one a feeling of a lot of space around the project doesn't it? There is no rush to start a child before age five. And if this child starts at age 8, they are not "behind." Starting at age 10 is perhaps a tiny bit late......but again, everyone is different.

What are some characteristics and knowledge that future cello majors should have?

1. Personal confidence
2. Drive - passion for music
3. Analytical thinking ability
4. Discipline - good practice habits
5. A solid knowledge of musical notation, keys, rhythmic principles, comfort at the instrument and a good technical foundation on which to build.
6. An understanding of the market....what the true picture of the employment landscape is and how that student might realistically fit into it.
7. Knowledge of where the good teachers and institutions are.
8. Willingness to work hard
9. Love of music as opposed to being driven only by living up to someone else's expectations and a desire to do it even if the dream job does not come through.
10. * related to no. 9 - A need to play.....
11. An understanding of competition and how to deal with it constructively.

About Mastery:

Mastery, for everyone, has inevitable ups and downs. An ebb and flow is part of the learning process. Too much pressure from outside or inside for that matter, can lead to unrealistic demands and jeopardize the entire process. And it is a path. To put it more simply, a lot is solved if one continues to come back to the path after occasionally getting frustrated or stuck. In Zen they say:" fall down seven, get up eight." If a student can sit at the cello and hang in through all the various fears, impatience, and self-doubt, the chances of success have just more than doubled. Hanging in builds personal confidence. There is excellence but there is not perfection. As Janos Starker says, a young musician needs to learn to walk before learning to run. If a student is talented, it can be tempting for a teacher to move too quickly. In other words, one can successfully "spoon feed" a piece to a talented student that is far above the student's actual technical level but is a short-term trade off not worth the price. The result will be a student without the foundation to play from a place of solidity and comfort.

Teaching different aged cellists:

I enjoy teaching all ages. Each age, and each person for that matter, presents a fascinating array of challenges that I find interesting. And I like people. My desire is to help that person get where he/she desires to go with the cello. That may be to a conservatory, to play chamber music with friends, to have the cello as a refuge in the middle of a busy life, to play in an orchestra, and/or to express and learn things that this person cannot express any other way.

How do the CelloChan principles and philosophies help students in other aspects of their lives?

I've spoken about this above but will try to clarify it somewhat. When we sit at the cello we are trying, in part, to gain control over something. Most people (if not all, given what it means to be alive) are somewhat insecure about controlling certain aspects of their lives. It's a common, natural problem that we all come by honestly! We fundamentally are limited in this life as to what we can control. If a person can learn how to "control" the cello while at the same time not forcing things, and learn to "go with the flow" that is a powerful metaphor for living and a huge accomplishment. Music is motion. Life is motion. We tend, as humans, to clutch at things for dear life sometimes and then we get stuck. We want to nail things down. So I think people can benefit from some of the ideas I've surrounded learning the cello with by accepting their own learning style, speed, and respecting the outcome of their best efforts. This is so much of the game as I've said before. Another benefit is the actual reduction of stress upon learning how to relax into an activity. This may sound like a contradiction, but activity and stillness are mysteriously interlocked! Connecting with one's musical energy, which is really one's basic life energy is such a fundamental need. Being able to then make music with others fulfills our need to be social.

Everyone is an artist to one extent or another. People are hungry to open up that side of them. I have seen this again and again. The satisfaction of putting one's hands to something and effecting and transforming it is the artistic process at the core. Connecting to ones medium (rolling up one's sleeves so to speak and diving in) and merging with it is a wonderful experience. That "something" we are merging with, in my view, is our very selves. Being an artist, I believe, is in fact a sort of dialogue. When we are in the dialogue of playing the cello, we are speaking out to someone or something (even to ourselves) in the hopes that it will be received. When it is received, a basic human need has been met. We can receive it ourselves.....even if no one else is listening. :)

An example of success:

Last year one of my students, of about 8 years, was one of the winners of the Pioneer High School Concerto Competition. She is a shy, sensitive, and special girl. Much of being able to play the cello well, in her case, had to do with learning to affirm who she was warts and all rather than waiting for some future perfect state. We worked on this a lot. She had fears many teenagers face unfortunately. Winning this honor had been a goal of this student for at least 3 years. After playing her audition she then had to wait to see if she made the second cut to be called back the following day. She was so convinced she would not be called back that she left her cello at home that next day. This was how frightened she was. She was trying to protect herself from the possible loss. In the morning of the call back day while at school, she learned that she was indeed in the second round of contestants and she basically fell apart. She called me and we hurriedly arranged a lesson in the afternoon before the second round of auditions. We talked of many things. We talked about what she felt she deserved, for example. I told her to draw a circle around herself while seated at the cello and decide what was allowed within it. To make a long story short, this she did, and she was able to maintain her poise and focus for the audition. She had decided to take control. Though she happened to win, I believe she would have accepted a loss having gained something very important about her ability to define herself due to how she prepared for the audition. cellochan students attended her concert and it was a wonderful performance.

An adult cellist's story.

I had an adult student while living in Princeton, NJ that was a cardiologist. He simply loved his cello and took it to the office every day, practicing during his lunch hour. He was extremely tense to the point of being like a robot at the cello. We were able to change that and when I moved to Ann Arbor from Princeton, he continued his study with the principal of the Philadelphia Orchestra. This was a dream come true for him.

My goal for my students distilled:

I want my students to enjoy making music, to grow in self-acceptance, to learn new ways to share music, to be exposed to as many musical/cellistic resources as possible, and to reach the level of technical proficiency and expressive freedom they desire.