Viola with Linnea M.

*Currently accepting students to start in mid-august 2021!* Note: I realize we are heading into an unpredictable school year and I am flexible with in-person and online lessons. I highly prefer in-person for the students’ sake, but we will take circumstances as they come! Hi! My name is Linnea and I have been playing the violin/viola for 20 years now (wow, I can’t believe its been that long already)! I began teaching over 13 years ago and I believe that it is one of the most important and rewarding parts of my profession as a musician. Here’s the boring-resume part: I just moved from Chicago where I was pursuing a Post-Masters Certificate at DePaul University on a performance scholarship. I have a Masters Degree in Viola Performance from University of Maryland where I had a full-ride scholarship and I studied with viola pedagogue Katherine Murdock. I also had a full ride scholarship to Boston University where I received my Performance Diploma, and I have my undergraduate degree in Viola Performance from Rutgers University where I studied with with the Principal Viola of the Philadelphia Orchestra. I have attended the prestigious Aspen Music Festival on a full-tuition scholarship and have also received a fellowship position at the National Repertory Orchestra in Breckenridge, CO, and spent summer 2019 performing Opera throughout Austria! Here’s the teaching part: I am an energetic, highly creative, patient, and passionate teacher. I love working with people of all ages, especially children, and I strive to make the learning process as interesting as possible! I use lessons as a special time for each student to get to know themselves and how they learn so they can build the tools they need to succeed at whatever they set their minds to! All of my lessons are different depending on the student, and together we focus on building skills dependent on what each student needs. Many of my students and I work together on the values of discipline and focus, and we do lots of dancing and laughing in the process! I think one of the most beautiful parts of lessons is the mentor-pupil connection. It’s a really special relationship that can help you learn how to be your best self. As a mentor, I work really hard to foster this relationship, so that I can be someone who pushes my students past their perceived limits, but also be a source of comfort, care, and inspiration when my students need it. I respect and admire all that each individual student brings to our lessons together, and I love to see how music can light up their lives and the lives of thier friends and family too! I’m just starting out a new chapter in Philadelphia, and I look forward to making music and memories here :)