Following a musical thread

to find my way here…

I grew up in rural Connecticut with a great mom who was a perfectionistic piano teacher, and a fairly patient dad who was happy to go for a walk whenever I had to practice. (Can’t blame him; that first year or so is the hardest when you’re learning how to make a violin work.) I studied at the Neighborhood School of Music in New Haven with some wonderful and loving violin teachers, and I like to think that my own approach to teaching owes a lot to their kindness and positive energy. 

We moved to Florida (a bit of culture shock!) when I was in my early teens, and the teacher I studied with for a year or so was not like what I had been used to. When I got to high school, I quit playing entirely. As it turned out, I didn’t return to the violin until I was about 35, and living in North Carolina. I discovered my violin could be a fiddle, and could speak “dance”! 

So I found the musical magic again, and on my lunch hours while working as a technical writer, re-acquainted myself with violins, now known as fiddles. I learned how to play for contra dancers, highland and Scottish country dancers, and English country dancers. I discovered that community orchestras can be a lot of fun, too, and that I liked teaching and coaching adults in the art of finding joy in learning to play a fussy instrument. 

My early teachers taught me with humor and patience, and I try to do that now with my students. It seems to be working, and I thank those kind souls along the way who taught me to love the power of music and to follow that musical thread in my life. It always leads somewhere interesting!

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Mara is available for
workshops * classes * dances * informal talks