Information About Julian - Loanhead teacher

Personal Description:

After reading music at Cambridge University and completing a post graduate course at the National Centre for Orchestral Studies in London, I played viola professionally for 5 years, 2 years in Sicily and then 3 years with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic orchestra. I then decided to move to Edinburgh and switch to working in IT while continuing my passion for playing the viola. I have led the violas in the Scottish Sinfonia - Edinburgh's leading amateur orchestra - for 37 years and for 12 years owned and played in a successful wedding quartet with my wife. During the 1990s I played the solo parts of the Telemann viola concerto and Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola with David Hume and Philomusica and in 2004 played the Walton viola concerto with Scottish Sinfonia. I have also regularly played with a pianist, Philip Coad, for the past 25 years and given many recitals with him during that time.

Tutoring Experience:

In my early career, I taught violin for two years in London primary schools. Since moving to Edinburgh in 1986, I've privately taught pupils of all ages from 7 to 77 - mainly viola but also violin and piano.

Tutoring Approach:

Above all I want pupils to enjoy their playing and so place a lot of emphasis on, 1) properly understanding and applying the fundamental building blocks of instrumental technique and 2) developing musicianship - duet playing, rhythmic awareness, sight reading, tuning, understanding phrasing structure, aural training, memorisation etc.
I encourage pupils to play with ease, develop good playing habits and not to mind too much as and when things don't quite work out!
I'm equally happy to work, particularly with younger pupils, towards ABRSM exams or to teach players who want to improve their playing without the stress that exams inevitably involve.
Adult lessons last for 1 hour. For younger pupils I have a flexible approach and offer pro rata lessons of any duration between 30 and 60 minutes.