If you’ve followed our work for a while, you may have read about one of our cello students, Shaylin. Previous posts were about the joy she exudes when playing, and her willingness to record something 25 times to get it the way she wanted.
Sheku Kanneh-Mason, a phenomenal young cellist, performed as soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony last week, and as part of his visit, he worked with three local cellists, including Shaylin. She played last year for Sterling Elliott, so though she was naturally nervous, she was also better prepared for the experience.
Giving a masterclass can be tricky for a teacher - you’re hoping to find a way to offer your thoughts to a student whose playing and personality you usually don’t know, and who is probably feeling really on the spot. Many guest teachers try to find something musical to work on, and see if they can persuade the student to try something a little differently, if only for the few minutes they work together.
I watched Kanneh-Mason a lot as Shaylin played and they talked, and he quickly spotted what we’ve all known for years - that she’s super bright, and much more willing to try things than most people. With that clearly in mind, he asked her to sing a passage they were working on, as a way to connect more directly with the music. This is a great teaching technique, but one that asks a lot of the student - most of my students won’t even do it in a lesson without a lot of prodding, but Shaylin was game, and so, in front of both her fellow students and an audience, gave her best vocal rendition of the passage at hand, and soon after, found her way to playing it much more effectively. He was delighted, and I sensed great satisfaction from him that he’d been able to connect with her that way.
Shaylin is not planning on a career in music - her current plans involve chemical engineering - but her experience playing in this class will be one she can draw on whenever that moment comes to step up and take a big risk. Giving a presentation for a class, a conference, or a job interview, will feel much more manageable after playing (and singing) for one of her idols and a room full of strangers.
We are very proud of her, for embodying what we strive to teach all our students to do - to grow through confronting challenges and finding ways to work through them.
Thank you for making these great opportunities possible for all our students!