The ACHT Viola Studio

I would just like to take a moment to brag about the wonderful ACHT viola studio here at The Juilliard School. Heidi Castleman, who primarily is in charge of this massive viola universe, is one of the wisest and organized persons I know. (*Note: I don't mean to imply that other studios aren't great as well :)

Let me begin by describing how everything works:

-ACHT stands for the last names of all the teachers who comprise the studio (in alphabetical order): Misha Amory, Heidi Castleman, Hsin-Yun Huang, and Steve Tenenbom. Most of the violists in our studio study with two teachers, often a combination of Ms. Castleman and another teacher, since the other three teachers are active performers and travel frequently. For example, I study with Mr. Amory and Ms. Castleman. Since Misha is often traveling with the Brentano Quartet, I will have lessons with him when he's in town and lessons with Heidi when he's gone. For me, this combination works out great because I am always able to have technique lessons with Heidi whenever I feel like I need it and can usually start new pieces with her and then take more polished works to Misha. They are both FANTASTIC, inspiring teachers who have already taught me so much!

Because there are approximately 25-30 violists in our studio, organization is key. Ms. Castleman is a big Google fan (me too!) so our studio uses it's resources extensively. How do we use it?

• Scheduling: All of the teachers have a special Google calendar where they invite all their students to use it, and post lesson schedules there. That way, all the students have access to view when their lessons will be and know who to ask if they need to switch lessons. There's also a "combined student calendar" which lists all the students who are busy at a certain time (based on their school schedule), so you know who you can't ask to switch.
• Studio class: The ACHT viola studio class spans up to three hours, however each students is require to only attend the first two or the last two hours, with the middle hour overlapping. This gives us one hour every week to all be together and usually this hour is not just used for more student performances, but rather is used for different kinds of presentations (Technique class demonstrations, listening to famous recordings and analyzing them, having a guest speaker on a wide range of topics like how to build a website or how to be a better public speaker)
• If you wish to play in studio class, there is a sign up sheet that you fill out and submit online. First you must play in "play-through" class, which is a small group comprised of the other violists playing that week in class. This gives everyone a chance to practice performing in a more intimate space, a smaller audience, and gives the option of choosing not to play in studio class if it doesn't go so well.
• Recordings: Another great resource has recently been added by one of our own students, AJ. Our new recording engineer records all studio classes and studio recitals then posts the recordings on a webpage so that the players and the teachers can listen afterwards (and download the recording) of the performance!
• On that performance note, I have to mention that Ms. Castleman has a knack for getting everybody to perform a lot. She arranges studio recitals every two months for people to have the chance to perform for public short works or parts of works, and makes sure that everybody gives at least one half or full recital every year. (and if you never sign up for a studio recital, she might just sign you up anyways ;)
• ACHT Viola site: Our viola studio also has it's own webpage! Here you can find a wide range of incredibly valuable resources. There are pages with notes on collaborative playing, public speaking, lists of summer festivals, instrument shops and contacts for the studio, jury requirements, forms for recommendation requests and a schedule of upcoming performances by the teachers.

Have I bragged enough? Well, mostly I just want to say how much I love my studio and everyone in it. Maybe this set up is a little overwhelming for some people, but I think it's great and encourage you to spread these ideas and use any resources available to you in the world!