Master the art of violin playing through physical freedom
Violin Mastermind
with Dylana Jenson
Dylana Jenson has performed with most major orchestras in the United States and traveled to Europe, Australia, Japan and Latin America for concerts, recitals and recordings. After her triumphant success at the Tchaikovsky Competition, where she became the youngest and first American woman to win the Silver Medal, she made her Carnegie Hall debut playing the Sibelius Concerto with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Following her most recent Carnegie Hall performance, Jenson again electrified both audience and critics in her performance of Karl Goldmark's violin concerto. According to Strad Magazine, "In Jenson's hands, even lyrical passages had an intense, tremulous quality... a sizzling performance." Harris Goldsmith of the New York Concert Review said, "I can give no higher praise than to say that her excellent performance brought to mind, and was a loving tribute to, the great Nathan Milstein... who was one of Jenson's mentors."
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Violin Mastermind Schedule
Week #1
Practice - April 2nd 12-1pm EST
How to organize your practice time. How I use scales and etudes.
How much intonation work?
How much emotional work?
Starting a new piece & using the practice pyramid.
Week #2
Vibrato - April 9th 12-1pm EST
Examining different approaches to the actual technique.
Developing a different relationship to your vibrato.
Live demonstrations
Week #3
Auditions & Performances - April 16th 1pm EST
How to prepare for an upcoming audition or performance, mentally, physically & technically.
An audition for an orchestral position is completely different preparation than for a
solo performance…let’s examine what the differences are and how to direct your practice.
Memorization and its relationship to slow practice.
Developing skills to memorize as you are learning a piece.
How to use technical work to memorize.
Week #4
Physicality - April 23rd 12-1pm EST
Ideas on posture, developing muscles for different techniques, and the ideal set up for you.
Shoulder rests...is it black and white? Is there a right or wrong way to hold your violin?
Demonstration & discussion
Week #5
Emotional Expression - April 30th 12-1pm EST
Making performance opportunities can invigorate and inspire your practice.
Every stage of your relationship to practice and performance can be viewed in an exciting and positive way. Life has many stages and so does your emotional relationship to your art.
Acknowledging that your emotional relationship and expression through the violin parallels your path in life. This process is quite enlightening and beautiful, even as you feel vulnerable. This vulnerability is crucial to an authentic expression of yourself in your art form.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study intensively with one of the best soloists of our time in her lovely home! I had had a few Zoom lessons with Dylana regarding the process of re-learning how to play after going off of the shoulder rest, but studying in person was really key for me to understand proprioceptively and aurally what I should be aiming for. Dylana picked up immediately on what kind of learning works best for me, and tailored the lessons to help me learn quickly and effectively. She challenged me to the max, and I am still processing all that I've learned! I was also amazed that she has such an acute sense of perception in general, and her acuity and ability to process what is going on around her from moment to moment is exceptional. A million things could be going on all at once, and she would be able to notice any slight anomaly, such as a tiny fly in the corner of a ceiling. And oh my gosh...the stories she has to tell - some make you cry, some make you laugh, or both all at once...I learned a lot about opening my heart and mind from this week - thank you for this incredible opportunity!
