I have my parents to thank for initiating my violin career – my Mom for her vision of communal music-making, and my Dad for his wanderlust!
My Mom was a pianist with a thriving teaching practice, but she didn’t want me to play the piano – she thought it was “too lonely”. She dreamed of me making music with lots of other people, so she chose the violin. My father loved music, and travelling. He thrilled me with stories of his globe-trotting exploits, and when I caught the travel bug, promised me, “You’ll travel the world on the wings of your violin.”
Well, my parents’ respective visions turned out to be true!
My initial violin playing experiences were anything but lonely, because I learned in a group setting according to the Suzuki method. I joined the provincial youth orchestra when I was 10, which was both terrifying and exhilarating – terrifying because I couldn’t actually READ music, and played everything by ear; exhilarating because I was discovering that there’s nothing like being part of the tapestry of sound that an orchestra can create.
Playing in youth orchestras gave me extraordinary opportunities: before finishing high school I’d travelled throughout my native South Africa and also toured Europe and Canada. So my violin really did grow wings and show me the world!
I don’t remember deciding I wanted to ‘be’ a violinist when I grew up. I simply loved playing, and it became part of who I considered myself to be. I followed the typical path for young classical musicians like myself – doing graded exams, competing in local competitions, and after high school, going to university to study violin performance.
I entered every scholarship competition available to me in order to further my education abroad and, after some successes, I moved to Manchester to attend the Royal Northern College of Music as an Associated Board Scholar.
After completing two post-grad diplomas in England, I decided to attend the summer masterclasses at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada and – long story short – I never left! I stocked up on Very Warm Clothes, braced myself for my first true winter, and settled in Toronto.
During my Masters degree studies at the University of Toronto I formed the Tokai String Quartet with my friends, which went on to win 4th prize at the Banff International String Quartet competition. Canada truly became my home when I won a position in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and my family moved here from South Africa. (Also, I adopted two cats. And numerous houseplants.)
I’m privileged to be an integral part of the cultural fabric of my city as a member of the Toronto Symphony. I also thrive on sharing music more intimately with the Tokai Quartet, which has brought chamber music to living rooms, classrooms and concert halls across Canada. Every summer I coach chamber music at Music at Port Milford, a summer camp for 12 to 18 year olds, where I learn just as much as the wonderful young people whom I teach.
My career brings me immense satisfaction. I still love playing the violin as much as my 10-year-old self did – not just because I love music, and the act of performing, and the continual process of refining how I communicate by means of this amazing art form.
I love what it teaches me about being human.
I believe the skills involved in practicing with dedication and discernment; in learning how to listen intently; in cultivating the desire, courage and vulnerability to risk communing with other people by means of music performance; all of these make us better people. And I love being a small part of history – both participating in and passing on the lineage of musicianship, interpretation, philosophy and technical knowledge which dates back centuries and will continue evolving with future generations. I hope what I’m able to teach contributes to this legacy.
Music surrounds us. It enlivens our experience of the world. Through some strange alchemy it models the whole spectrum of human emotions. Open yourself up to it and you participate in the magic of an auditory experience capable of changing your mood, inspiring your creativity and bringing about community and catharsis. I’m so grateful to be a musician and to be able to participate in this kind of communication and communion with others.