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It is by discovering the effects of yoga, Qi Gong and the Alexander technique that I realized the tremendous importance that physical and mental preparation have in daily violin practice. Hence I decided to make the body one of the main focuses in my teaching: working on the relative relaxation of the muscles while playing, obviously, but also on the optimal general posture, on the position of the bow and the violin, and on what is proper to each. I also like to focus on physical sensation, such as that of the bow against the string (or of the string under the bow), of the fingers on the fingerboard, on mental projection, and on the role of centers of energy.
I was lucky to benefit from the teaching of various schools of violin technique, and as years passed, I integrated in my “toolbox" what worked best for me: from the Russian school, the right arm (Garlitsky, Tzvetlova, Wulfson), from the Franco-Belgian school, the subtlety and the numerous possibilities of touch and vibrato (Kless, Le Dizès), and from the American school, a distinctive focus on movement saving and on sound broadness and projection (Fried, Copes). Reading the violin teaching books of the Hungarian Kato Havas and the American Paul Rolland inspired me a lot, both in my own violin playing and in my desire to transmit what I know.
Finally, Donald Weilerstein, the first violin of the Cleveland Quartet, made me experience the learning and playing process through a psychological and mental approach that are so important in our field, the way they are in sports and other competitive fields.
My teaching consists in passing on to students all the things that I learned, but also in enhancing their curiosity, hence encouraging them to experiment on their own. In a world where violin schools don't really exist anymore, I find it essential for them to exchange, listen to other instrument coaching (there is so much to learn from winds and voices!) and to get inspired by other influences.