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. Shaylin has been playing for 6 years now, and recently passed a significant milestone - playing in her first masterclass!

Sterling Elliott, a rising star in the cello world, performed as soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony a couple weeks ago, and as part of his visit, he worked with several local cellists, including Shaylin. For any musician, playing in a masterclass is both exciting and nerve-wracking - in addition to giving a performance of a challenging concerto (from memory!), you also get feedback from a famous artist, all in front of an audience.

In the weeks leading up to the class, Shaylin worked hard to be prepared for all aspects of the experience, and she came through with flying colors. We talked repeatedly in her lessons about how things would go - that she would be nervous, that something would “go wrong” in the performance, and that she would keep going no matter what. All those things happened, of course, but they were followed by some very encouraging and helpful work with Mr. Elliott, giving her some new perspectives on the piece, and new ways to bring out her musical ideas. He also pointed out that she was quick to pick up what he was suggesting (no surprise to those of us who know her), and perhaps most important, she was able to try out his different approach on the spot, one of the most challenging things a musician can be asked to do.

Shaylin set an ambitious goal for herself, and achieved it through diligent work and her usual unshakeable belief in herself. 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. It’s what music study, and so much of life, is all about.

More soon!

Maggie, Shannon, Kevin and Nat