Jennifer Visick holds a Bachelor of Music degree in viola performance from the University of California, Irvine, and has taken Suzuki teacher training through viola book 6 (& violin bk 4) from Elizabeth Stuen-Walker, Edward Kreitman, Ed Sprunger, Susan Kempter, and Lorraine Fink. She teaches privately out of her home in Monrovia, or out of her studio in Sierra Madre, and is currently on Faculty with the Pasadena Suzuki Music Program. She also partners with Sky Mountain Charter School as a vendor of viola and violin lessons for their students, and serves as an assistant director for the Community Youth Orchestra of Southern California. She regularly plays for worship services at her church, and has also performed at different venues in Southern California and in the Czech Republic as the violist of the Elegie Quartet. Occasionally she free-lances, but her first love is teaching -- so she is always pursuing further education. One of her ongoing interests is learning to teach people to play from the start without the tension that leads to the pain and injury that many musicians endure. In this area, she has been influenced by ideas from the Alexander Technique, by Karen Tuttle's Coordination Workshop(2003), & has studied at Suzuki Institues (2003 & 04) with Susan Kempter, author of "Teaching the Violin with the Body in Mind."
She began to study the violin at age 3, and chose to focus on the viola when she began high school. Her primary viola instructors include John Scanlon, Jerzy Kosmala, Yvonne Creanga, Laura Kuennen-Poper, and Margaret Shimizu. Miss Visick also volunteers as a Sunday School teacher at Bethany Church of Sierra Madre.
She is a member of:
* CPAF (Christian Performing Artist's Fellowship)
* SAA (Suzuki Association of the Americas)
* SMAC/LA (Suzuki Music Association of California, Los Angeles Branch)
* IVS, AVS, and SCVS (International, American, and Southern California Viola Societies)
THE SMALL PRINT
Jennifer Visick's Studio Policies
"The Short version"
by Jennifer Visick, February 2008
Scheduling a lesson is an agreement to abide by all of these policies.
1. I teach Mon-Sat from September through the first week of June, with holidays for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. My Summer schedule varies.
2. Lessons take place at my home or in Sierra Madre. Note the 'no parking' and 'no U-turn' signs.
3. Contact me at least 24 hours in advance to reschedule or cancel a lesson. If we cannot schedule a makeup, you may ask for a refund up to 3 times each year. If I need to cancel a lesson, you may ask for either a makeup lesson or a refund.
4. Lesson times are approximate, and may start or end up to 15 minutes after your scheduled time.
5. OPEN Lesson Policy: You may observe another student's lesson; other people may be observing your lessons. Observers must Be Quiet during the lesson. Relatives are welcome to observe your lessons if they don't distract the Suzuki Triangle.*
6. No lesson will ever be given where there is one teacher and one student and no other adult able to see both parties at all times during the lesson. For children, A LEGAL GUARDIAN OF YOUR CHILD MUST BE ABLE TO SEE BOTH ME AND YOUR CHILD AT ALL TIMES DURING THE LESSON. NO PARENT = NO LESSON, NO REFUND, NO RESCHEDULE -- NO EXCEPTIONS.
7. Tuition for the school year is due at the start of your second lesson of the school year.
8. All my students past book 4 in the Suzuki repertoire will study both viola and violin.
9. If you are ill or have been exposed to a contagious disease, please reschedule your lesson (see No. 3 above).
10. The lesson is not an appropriate time or place for anyone in the "suzuki triangle" to answer a phone: Teacher, Student, and Parents should all have their cell phones turned off.
11. All Students are expected to enroll in group classes, or an orchestra, or a chamber music group. All students are expected to participate in their school's string programs.
12. All students are expected to attend my studio recitals.
13. All families are expected to attend at least 2 local concerts each year.
14. Before your last lesson with me, please schedule an exit interview.
