Introducing...The AVS Pedagogy Blog!

Clearly I do not have the most active blog, namely because these days, I rarely get around to posting. But here's the good news: when I do post something, it's bound to be something really exciting!

The good news:
This year my viola studio at Juilliard has been chosen to start a new American Viola Society Pedagogy Blog. It was launched last month and, I must say, has proved itself to be an incredible resource for all musicians. There are 5 posts a week, each under a different general topic. The posts are written by Juilliard students, alum, and faculty. You can imagine that in combining brains of 40 violists, you can get a lot of information, tips and ideas. (Did that sound like a viola joke?- well it's not! It's true!)

I recently posted a video which answers my assigned question for the Teaching section: "How do you know what you're teaching is actually helping the student?". View it by clicking here:

However, I encourage you to check out all of it! www.americanviolasociety.org/studio

Below I've also posted my interview which was a part of my introduction to the "Cast" of the ACHT viola studio.

Introducing Marie Daniels!

The Cast Comments Off

What’s your name?

My name’s Marie. My internet alias is “violamad”. My full name is Marie Alise Daniels. That means my initials spell “mad”. Get it?

Where are you from?

In New York, I tell everybody that I’m from Houston, Texas. This is *mostly* true. However, I was born in College Station, TX, a college town home to Texas A&M University. Then I moved to a northern suburb of Houston when I was eleven, The Woodlands. And that’s where I fell in love with viola. 

How did you come to the viola?

Sometimes I like to call myself a “pure violist”. Yep, I started on viola in the 5th grade. Basically, we had to choose to take orchestra or art, and seeing that I liked to draw stick figures, I found orchestra to be a more appealing choice. Not such a romantic story. However, the way the story goes, when we had to choose between violin, viola, cello and bass, I decided on the viola, because I liked the way it sounded. Marie, had you ever heard a viola before? No, I liked the way it sounds: “vee-oh-la”. (source: my grandfather)

If you could perform any viola piece, what would it be?

This is a really tough question…because I have so many answers. Well, I can say that I’m very much looking forward to performing Brandenburg 6 with the wonderful Baroque violist Kyle Miller and a band of low strings!

If you could play any non-viola piece, what would it be?

I want to play all of the Vivaldi concerti for the Viola d’amore! (I’m kinda into that historical performance thing…GUT STRINGS!)

Who made your viola and how did you get to be the one playing it?

My viola is from the Robertson and Sons Violin shop, made by S.J Pique. I don’t know him, but he definitely made a pretty sounding viola 

Do you have any secret skills?

I’m not sure if this is the right kind of answer, but I just wanted to say, I LOVE food. Share recipes with me!

You are forced by the United States Government to not practice for a day.  What do you do with yourself?

Bike around New York City! All.The.Way.Around.

Do you have a website?

Good thing nobody else famous shares my name!
www.mariedaniels.com

I also have a fun shop where you can buy some viola products that I designed!
www.cafepress.com/4theloveofviola