VIOLIN, VIOLA, CELLO & PIANO INSTRUCTION-In my studio, I teach all ages of students at varying levels of interest and ability. We adjust the program to suit the student, though there are parameters that are constant with all students. Students are taught the techniques of
1 how to hold an instrument & the bow
2 tune the instrument
3 how to correctly use the fingers to produce the pitches with good tuning (intonation)
4 how to produce good quality sound
• I emphasize learning the literacy skills associated with making music, while teaching the best way to get the most beautiful sound out of the instrument.
• Reading music enables the musician to play any song or piece of music independently.
• We seek the best attitude and the best physical posture.
We study all kinds of repertoire, including requests of favorite pieces or songs of the student. We add exercises whenever necessary, and I encourage my students to play together with other musicians at your current level, to increase the enjoyment of playing music. This includes chamber music such as duets, trios, quartets, etc., and participation in orchestras. I encourage all prospective students and their parents, when appropriate, to e-mail me any questions about the study & performance of music.
Families with more than one student enrolled get a discount! Second student gets lessons at 5% off, third at 10% off.
What you can expect:
First meeting is free of charge and is intended for us to get to know each other. You will bring your instrument if you have one. We will talk about your goals & what you'd like to get from your study of the violin. We'll discuss any previous history, if any that you've had playing the violin. You'll play for me whatever you're comfortable playing and show me any materials you've studied, i.e., pieces you've played or studied, technique, scale books, etc.
This is all in order to assess what level of playing or proficiency and knowledge you already have re: music knowlege in general (theory, note-reading, etc.) and the violin specifically. This, together with your other issues including; desire to learn and to attain a certain level of proficiency, available time for study, budget available for tuition and your age will help us determine your lesson plan. Your lesson plan will include the length of your lessons, their frequency, the materials we'll be studying from, and lastly, the schedule.
Your lessons will begin at the time and date that we have determined in our mutual agreement.
You may enroll at any time of the year.
Harris Shilakowsky is the founder and first violinist of the Shilakowsky String Quartet and also conducts and performs as violin soloist of the Bristol Chamber Orchestra, a professional ensemble dedicated to performing music of all periods in diverse settings, educational concerts & special events including choral concerts. He is the director of the Sharon Community Chamber Orchestra and has also directed rehearsals with youth orchestras in Burlington, VT and at New England Conservatory of Music. In 2002, Shilakowsky was guest conductor of the Rocky Ridge Music Festival Orchestra (YAS program). He has conducted chamber orchestra concerts in Grand Rapids and Baroque readings in Germany with international musical colleagues. He was also the Founder & Director of the Strauss Orchestra of Boston and conductor of fund-raising concerts for Pro Arté Chamber Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic.
In 1994, Mr. Shilakowsky, performed as a guest leader (a position leading the violin section) of the London Symphony Orchestra performing recording sessions, tours and performances under music director Michael Tilson Thomas and Sir George Solti, Sir Colin Davis and André Previn in performances with Jessye Norman, Yuri Bashmet, Peter Zimmerman, and Kiri Tekanawa, among others. Upon returning to the USA, Shilakowsky was called to serve as concertmaster for the Bocksch Concerts Production of My Fair Lady, the European Tour with Maximillian Schell.
Harris Shilakowsky is a former concertmaster of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra (D.Stahl), the New Orleans Symphony under Maxim Shostakovich, the Omaha Symphony directed by Bruce Hangen, the Grand Rapids Symphony (Semyon Bychkov), the Orquesta Sinfonica de Las Palmas and the Des Moines Metro Opera Orchestra. He has also worked with the Boston, Chautauqua and Nashville Symphonies, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Handel-Haydn Society of Boston, and the Opera Company of Boston. Other recent U.S. free-lance work includes guest-concertmaster work with Vermont Symphony, the Granite State Symphony, the Nashua Symphony.
As solo violinist, Shilakowsky has appeared with the New Orleans, Omaha and Charleston Symphony Orchestras, the New England Conservatory and Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestras performing Mozart, Bach and Dvorak Violin Concertos, Vaughan-Williams' "Lark Ascending" and Ravel's "Tzigane", the Brahms Concerto and Chausson "Poeme" and in live recitals on NPR Stations in Boston, Omaha and Nashville. He performed recitals in 1999 in Brockton, MA at Temple Beth Emunah, in 1998 at the Newton Free Public Library & Jewish Community Center in Newton, MA, and in Johannesburg & Pietersburg, South Africa.
He also performs with the Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Pops, the Boston Ballet, Pro Arté Chamber Orchestra, and the American Symphony. He was a first violinist and on-stage solo musician for the Really Useful Group 'Frankfurt-1995' production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard. In 1995, he completed a three month contract of West Side Story performing at the Schiller Theater in Berlin, Germany.
Shilakowsky earned his Bachelor of Music cum laudé from New England Conservatory of Music and a Master's Degree from Yale University. His teachers include Joseph Silverstein, Koichiro Harada, Nancy Cirillo, and Leo Panasevich of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, David Cerone, Vali Bluttner and Yair Kless, chamber music with Joseph Gingold, Louis Krasner, Rudolph Kolisch, Eugene Lehner, master classes and chamber music with Oscar Shumsky and members of the Tokyo Quartet at Yale. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1955. He is a Tanglewood alumnus, and is an active composer. He has been listed in 'Who's Who in Musical America'. He has taught at several schools, including the New England Conservatory Preparatory School, the Thayer Conservatory @ Atlantic Union College, and The South Shore Conservatory, where he was the head of the string department, and as an adjunct professor at the College of Charleston.
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