Brooklyn Cello Studio is based in New York City and offers classes, workshops, and concerts serving students in NYC and worldwide.
We’re the only cello studio that we know of that caters exclusively to adult students. Here’s why that is:
- Most kids simply don’t give a shit about the fine details of cello playing. Adults do. It’s a pretty easy choice.
- The whole “taking private lessons from a 78 year old Italian man in a darkened room” narrative desperately needed rebranding.
As you can tell, we’re serious about the cello but we’re also serious about doing things differently.
Brooklyn Cello Studio is woman-owned and independently-run since opening in 2014.
Our faculty and staff are all badass performers who just happen to love teaching adult students. (Seriously, we think y’all are the best).
Most music programs teach adults using the exact same pedagogy used for teaching young children:
Suzuki repertoire like “Twinkle Twinkle” (ugh), high expectations for hours + hours of practice, making you play on the same recital as all the five year olds (wtf.). Not to mention a complete lack of scheduling flexibility and asking you to pay upfront for half a year of lessons.
Whatever your situation, we get that you probably have a lot going on, and while you’re not trying to be Yo-Yo Ma, you’d at least like to look cool doing it.
In our experience, the “traditional” approach just doesn’t cut it for adult students.
(And this is exactly why learning the cello stays on the “maybe someday” list for so many people.)
We think you deserve better.
At Brooklyn Cello Studio, we focus on:
All of our programming is designed with you in mind. This means that we have:
Meet Your New Cello Teachers
Kirin
Kirin is the founder and director of Brooklyn Cello Studio. She’s got a Master’s in Cello Performance from Temple University and a teaching certification from the Philadelphia School for the Alexander Technique…but she did her undergrad at Smith College where she studied Economics and French.
What’s a daily indulgence that brings you joy?
I adore Japanese tea and am always stocking up at Kettl in Williamsburg– they have an amazing selection and quality. It feels really indulgent and exciting to open up my cabinet every day and pick out which tea I want to brew. (In the years after school I worked in specialty coffee and in wine, but now I’m sober and rarely drink coffee, so clearly I’ve just transferred all my beverage geekery to tea!)
What’s your personal practice look like outside of gigs/performing?
I spend a lot of time investigating the basic elements of my playing– I’m hungry to understand the very basics on deeper and deeper levels. I’ve developed a strong love for études (Dotzauer especially, but also Popper), so I like to play through one or two every day. And I’m usually working on a Bach Suite or some sort of contemporary classical rep. But my main focus right now is learning everything I can about synthesis– I adore feedback-based music and have been creating a practice around that, which is really satisfying on so many levels.
What makes you unique as a teacher?
While I want you to help you develop strong cello technique (and have been told I have very high standards), but honestly I’m most excited about the opportunities to for us to explore quality of movement as it relates to cello technique, to help you grow your ears and hear the world as music, and to help you cultivate a space for creativity in your life.
You can learn more about Kirin here.
Kristen
Kristen holds multiple degrees in both cello performance and cello pedagogy from the Boston Conservatory.
What’s a daily indulgence that brings you joy?
I’ve been enjoying making my dining table a beautiful place, with candles and fresh flowers.
Tell me about your personal practice routine.
I spend a good amount of time on open strings and bow exercises, followed by scales. I’ve also been digging back into Popper etudes to keep my ear and left hand sharp, but I spend the majority of my time writing new music on the cello. It’s not necessarily challenging in a technical sense, but challenges my creativity.
What makes you unique as a teacher?
I tune into people (pun intended haha!) really quickly, and that helps me build relationships that inform what we explore in lessons. Also I trained classically but since have expanded into many different styles of music as a performer. (This is not unique for Brooklyn Cello Studio, obviously – Both Kirin and Natalie are adventurous performers, but perhaps that is what makes us unique as a studio.)
Learn more about Kristen here.
Natalie
Natalie holds degrees in cello performance from Eastman School of Music and the University of Maryland.
What’s a daily indulgence that brings you joy?
I’m a sucker for a fancy latte (Lavender & Salted Honey among my favs!), and it has turned into a special ritual for my wife and I to visit interesting, local coffee spots a few times a week for a to-go beverage. We both have demanding (virtual) schedules at the moment, so our late morning coffee break is a nice breath of fresh air, and quality time together that really makes my heart happy. 🙂
What do you spend the bulk of your time playing and practicing?
When left to my own devices, my practice routine usually includes a Bach suite, a piece of new classical music (sometimes written by a colleague/friend), and lastly, a self-challenge to reimagine part of an old classical favorite for electric cello + electronics. It gets pretty experimental over here!
What makes you unique as a teacher?
Being raised with multi-genre influences, I think I’m an especially helpful mentor on style and energy aspects of performance. I’m also super observant of general muscle use and structural/postural differences from person to person — which leads to rewarding lesson discussions as we tackle individual challenges and maximize unique strengths!
Learn more about Natalie here.