This fall, I’m excited to announce a new partnership with the DC Youth Orchestra Program (DCYOP). DCYOP, a Washington DC – based organization has provided music instruction for K-12 students for more than 60 years. With more than 500 students enrolled in it’s music and orchestra classes, DCYOP’s mission is “To empower young people to transform their lives through music and community.”
In this regard, they have developed a new program called the Whole Musician Masterclass Series. In September, I will introduce faculty to the Alexander Technique. This workshop will empower teachers to carry forward what their beginner violin students ages 5-7 will be learning in October, as they embark on a four-part series of Saturday morning classes. Alexander Technique optimizes all aspects of learning and performing music, teaching skills for learning, practicing, and performing with a poised body, and calm and confident mind.
Over the course of four weeks, students and their parent-participants will work with me to:
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Learn everyday anatomy and body awareness
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Identify the relationship between moving, thinking and feeling
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Understand how self-awareness promote agency and whole-person musicianship
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Apply this knowledge to practicing and daily activities
Alexander Technique is a unique mind-body educational paradigm established more than a century ago that supports focus, quietens mental chatter, and releases physical tension so that a student is more available to learn and thrive. Students learn to develop keen self-awareness of how their habits of moving, thinking, feeling, and executing life activities are interdependent, and skills to help moderate their inner mind-body dialogue to promote agency, self-compassion and overall health.
