Fi won a concerto competition last week, and as part of her prize she got to take part in a two-hour master class with Hilary Hahn (OMG!) along with three other kids who won in other categories. We are big fans of Hilary Hahn at our house. We had no idea until after the competition [...]

Posting my Big News from yesterday’s Facebook page: I think the reason the post got so many Likes is because the idea of an imperfectly dysfunctional ADHD mom (me) doing an NFL-style victory dance in front of a group of stuffy Tiger Moms is so over-the-top that someone should actually do it. It won’t be [...]

Here’s a great shot of Fi at violin class. Here she is in a group of music students from the honors program on their first day together. I love this photo – it has so many micro-stories in it. (-:

Our children play Suzuki violin. Fiona, 10, is in Book 7. Ella, 7, is currently in Book 1. These tips are more for parents of kids who are in Book 1 – the beginner kids. Although we do the daily practice most days, the same old thing day after day can be challenging for young [...]

Ella and Fi got to go on a field trip with their school to the Kennedy Center to see Black Violin. This group is amazing – they’re two young, black hip-hop guys who play the violin. They shake it all up and fuse classical with urban. Basically, they break all the rules.

Here’s Fiona (age 10) playing Flight of the Bumblebee (also known as Der Hummelflug). She let the bumblebees get away from her and left off a measure at the end but she had only been playing this song for four weeks, so with time and practice these things will improve. What a fun, fast song. [...]

Oh, go ahead – just scroll down and skip to the video! Yesterday Fiona played Hayden’s Violin Concerto in G Major at a musical tea hosted by her music school.