Ilona Beck
Vancouver, BC Canada

Making Music, Making Friends

As part of a musical family, I know the joy of being able to play music with others.

Teaching music is my life. I am a 3^rd generation music teacher and musician from a family with a rich musical tradition. My grandparents were piano teachers, my father was a clarinetist, my mother a violinist, and my brother is a cellist in the Vancouver Symphony. My favourite memories are of playing music with my family when I was growing up.

My parents were both performance graduates from Yale University and my childhood was filled with chamber music, concerts, playing for weddings, and weekend music sessions at home. I joined my first orchestra at age 14 and then was accepted in the Windsor Symphony at age 16. This early experience led to my passion for coaching ensembles or groups.

As with many young people trained in the Classical field, my interests expanded to include other types of music. Four trips to Ireland over a three year period gave me the opportunity to study Celtic music and play with Irish musicians in a variety of settings. I now incorporate fiddle, Celtic, and folk music from many different traditions into my teaching as it appeals to children (and adults!) of all ages.

As much as I love playing music, I was born to teach. I began teaching over 20 years ago at age 16, in Windsor Ontario, where my parents were members of the music department faculty at the University of Windsor. Although I've studied many different types of musical instruction -- such as Royal Conservatory, Suzuki, and Kodaly -- and use elements from them in my teaching, my own "method" is to be joyous and supportive. I choose and develop materials appropriate for each individual child to provide experience that will enrich him or her at any given time.

My specialty is teaching violin to children although about 30 percent of my private students study piano. I've also taught children's voice and directed a children's choir for two years. Most of my students are between 3 and 12, but include a few adults who are interested in learning, or relearning, the violin.

My passion, as I said, is teaching groups and ensembles. I've launched the Music Friendsprogram here in Vancouver to give more children the chance to experience the joy and benefits of playing with others. I've experienced it first hand, and I've seen it first hand while co-directing the Windsor Strings, a youth string orchestra of about 40 children between the ages of 7 and 18 who performed at festivals and other competitions all over Ontario. It was a wonderful experience for everyone; the kids grew musically, personally, and socially, and the friendships and family ties that developed lasted for many many years.

The group experience enriches a child's musical life in a way that taking only private lessons and playing on one's own cannot. Music is, after all, a social event. Playing together gives kids memories and friendships they can treasure for life.

Sharing the treasury of musical knowledge, experience, know-how and joy that I've been fortunate enough to inherit through three generations is the gift that I have to give back to the world.