The Berklee Global Strings Program takes place June 12 – June 16 this summer at the Berklee College of Music campus in Boston, MA. Under the direction of David Wallace, chair of Berklee’s String Department, the program explores a wide variety of string styles, including folk, jazz, bluegrass, classical, Pop, R&B, old-time, Celtic, World Music and more. There are small and large ensemble playing opportunities, as well as faculty clinics and jam sessions focusing on different styles. The week culminates with a student concert where everyone gets to perform what they have worked on in classes and ensembles during the week. The classes offered are: Styles lab: You will rotate through multiple styles,
Learn
String students in New England are lucky in that they have plenty of summer music camps they can attend not too far from home. I attended several intensive music camps as a teen geared towards serious string players, although
Did you know that there are over 100 jazz summer camps held in the US every year? Well I didn’t know either! There are certainly many summer programs at universities and conservatories, but you can also spend an immersive
Online video lessons for music students have come a long way over the last decade or so. Besides private teachers being able to teach their students over the web (say when someone is sick and doesn’t want to be
Singer Songwriter
If your soul is yearning for beauty and healing, you may want to catch Laura Cortese and the Dance Cards at one of their live shows. I became a huge fan of Laura’s after she released Into The Dark in 2013. My son and I listened to this CD in the car
Classical
Let me tell you about the Me2/Orchestra! No, not that Me2. This organization was founded in 2011 in Burlington, Vermont, by music director Ronald Braunstein and executive director Caroline Whiddon. Braunstein has spent his whole life struggling with bipolar disorder and felt that he was uniquely positioned to start a new
Scandinavian Folk Fusion
I was going to make this post about one of my favorite bands, Väsen. But as I started to research their history as a band, and as individual musicians, I ran into too many collaborations they have been a part of, both individually and as a group, to NOT include other favorite
Learn Online
Online video lessons for music students have come a long way over the last decade or so. Besides private teachers being able to teach their students over the web (say when someone is sick and doesn’t want to be in close contact), subscription platforms have become very user friendly, both for students
From Your Host
Welcome to the new learningviolin.com, learningviola.com, and learningcello.com! In 1999, an adult student of mine showed up to her lesson one day, and announced that she had built me a website. All we needed was a domain name. In those days we had a broad choice of simple domains, apparently not many
New from the playlist
Casey Driessen, Aili Järvelä and Esko Järvelä: Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell
- American Roots
This fun cover of Joni Mitchell’s tune was born out of fiddler Casey Driessen being stuck in Finland at the start of Covid in March 2020 in the middle of his Otherlands travels around the world. I love that the two fiddlers clearly speak the same language despite being raised in two different cultures. Read more on Casey and his two months in Finland here.
Music: Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell
Featured Hot Pick
Guess The Lyrics
Guess The Musician!
"You won’t say what your eyes can’t hide
You’re carrying a weight all alone
Who was it showed you how to keep it inside?
I’ll shine a little light just to let you know"
You’re carrying a weight all alone
Who was it showed you how to keep it inside?
I’ll shine a little light just to let you know"
