Cello with Zachary M.

When I first went to Mr. Mowitz, I hoped to improve my cello technique above all else. As a result, Mr. Mowitz prescribed me a customized list of repertoire to practice that would help me focus on technique including the Popper etudes, the Bach suites, and the Cossman exercises. However, to ensure that our lessons would not purely be technique-based, Mr. Mowitz helped me understand the musical beauty behind more lyrical pieces such as the Boccherini cello concerto or the Saint Saens cello concerto while also demonstrating the techniques we'd been practicing in application to these concertos. Mr. Mowitz never assumes a fully comprehensive understanding of cello technique and musicality even for his intermediate-advanced students (which I would have considered myself as when I started to learn from him) and thus always has something new to teach as much as he reminds his students of the importance of certain fundamentals like a relaxed body when playing. I would say with full confidence that my cello playing significantly improved under Mr. Mowitz. His teaching helped me gain access by audition to advanced musical opportunities such as performing in the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra and participating in the Snitzer Quartet in the Settlement Music School Advanced Study Program. These opportunities, in turn, and the musical "arts supplements" for cello that I eventually made furthermore helped me gain admission into schools including Harvard and Stanford, on what I would consider was largely a technical base taught to me by Mr. Mowitz. I truly hope that more people are able to experience the blessing of Mr. Mowitz's teaching!

Zachary is a fantastic cello teacher, I would highly recommend him to students of all levels. He is incredibly patient, and his passion for music teaching and performance is very infectious. He is very good at communicating nuanced ideas, both technical and musical, and can demonstrate them with ease. It’s been a great pleasure working with him!

Such an insightful and caring teacher! I learned how to better structure my practice and improved drastically over just a few lessons. A very kind person and fantastic cellist. Highly recommended!