Anonymous
Post 03/15/2026 11:03     Subject: I'm looking for a violin teacher for my middle schooler (NoVA)
3 years late, but Shen-Pang/Robert Chien is an amazing private teacher. He'll take students of any level, and he's great with expressiveness! I take lessons from him, and from first-hand experience, I can tell you that he's absolutely amazing. I'm unfortunately not a parent, and am one of the people you discuss in this forum... but some key things you should know:
- Mr. Chien is quite picky with intonation
- The top violinist and violist in my orchestra are his students
- Your child's ability and skill are sure to improve with him! Mine sure did, a lot.
So please please please, take him.
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2023 23:07     Subject: Re:I'm looking for a violin teacher for my middle schooler (NoVA)
Anonymous wrote:Dear all - Thank you so much for your replies. Violin is my child’s second instrument. I regret stating him late because he likes it more than the piano. Our teacher prepared him for the mid-level exam at the end of the second year (ascap?) and he passed it. This school year he was part of a youth orchestra group that’s mostly high school students. He works hard and practices every day. To me what he needs help with is playing beautifully and dynamically. I often watch YouTube videos with him of his pieces and wished he could play as expressively as those musicians.

I will think about finding a summer teacher for him and reach out to the teachers that you recommended. We can go to Maryland as well since we are in Falls Church and it’ll be easy to go to everywhere.


OP, I hope you don’t mind sharing which YO he’s a part of. Mostly because my DD is the youngest member of a YO that is mostly HS students.
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2023 23:01     Subject: I'm looking for a violin teacher for my middle schooler (NoVA)
Anonymous wrote:Wow are violin instructors more money because they are more in demand? My kid plays a less popular instrument and we pay $50 for 45 minutes and teacher has experience with high level students.


The violin teachers that charge the high $$$ tend to have experience with preparing their students for top conservatories. Their kids are the ones that do well in local competitions and win chairs in YOs. There is a price to be paid for that.
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2023 22:57     Subject: I'm looking for a violin teacher for my middle schooler (NoVA)
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My child in NoVA goes to MD for her violin lessons with a very well regarded instructor. When we were looking for a new teacher two years ago, she had trial lessons with Matt Richardson and Dr. Kobayashi, among others.

Some of the good instructors in this area include Ronda Cole and David Strom, Olga Khroulevitch, Shen-Pang Chien, Natalia Yampolsk, June Huang (not sure she’s taking students), and Ricardo Cyncynates. The students of these instructors tend to be fairly serious about their music, even if they do not have professional ambitions.


The question is, do any of these instructors take middle schoolers who have only been studying privately for a few years. I would be shocked if Ronda Cole had room in her studio for an older, relatively less advanced student.


This is a good list. We studied with Heidi Daniels. Heidi studied with Ronda Cole and started violin at a later age than your typical Suzuki kid. DC has studied with Strom and Cole during summers and both are wonderful, but one may be better than the other for your kid. I don't think your child's age would matter to them. It's important to do trial lessons with any teacher you are considering. I don't want to post anyone's specific rate on here but expect to pay between $100-175. We paid an NSO member $150/hr for lessons/coaching.


NP here. Are you happy with the NSO member? What does he or she bring to your child that some of the other studios mentioned above do not?
We've been at a respected private studio for years, but I'm wondering what else is out there. Specifically, I'm not that happy with the lack of competition opportunities. Is your teacher more knowledgeable about these things?



What sort of competition opportunities are you looking for? Olga’s kids tend to do very well in competitions, and her kids tend to sit on a piece and polish it to very high standards before moving on (the kids enter “lesser” competitions in the beginning, then increasingly more competitive ones as their pieces get better). One of the reasons we did not go with Dr.Kobayashi was because DD did not want to do as many competitions as she seems to prefer.

If you’re unhappy, it never hurts to look around.