Viola lessons in Rotterdam

Toby is an outstanding instructor and works with children very naturally. My 11 year old son has been taking lessons with Toby for over two months and is eager for each lesson. Toby is extremely talented, but beyond that, he engages my son deeply with the music itself, fundamental techniques, music theory, and even the interpretation of the music. Toby is kind, encouraging, and works with students at a level that is appropriate. He has allowed my son to chose music that if fun and interesting to practice, even though the pieces are challenging. We are located many time zones away from Toby, and the virtual lessons do not hinder our experience with him. In fact, I often sit in to listen to the lessons, as they are so good. My son has had a couple of lessons with Toby while company has been over, and everyone has commented on how amazing Toby is as an instructor. I can not recommend Toby enough and hope to continue lessons with him for a long time.

Francisco was an excellent teacher, who firstly took the time and trouble to understand my problems which I had built up in my viola playing. He helped me explore the outcome I was looking for and we discussed how to go about it. He had fully researched the music I was going play and showed me a new insight in to the music we looked at in the lesson. His knowledge of technique was very good and he was able to analysis the problems I was having and discuss practical ways of adjusting them. It was amazing how simply adjusting my shoulder rest could affect both my sound and intonation. He also discussed ways of looking at performance anxiety, and thorough out it all was most pleasant and encouraging.

Erika is a fantastic teacher and a lovely human being. Very patient, and has a creative teaching style. You can immediately tell she enjoys what she does, and this makes the sessions more entertaining. She would always go the extra mile to make things more clear. I’m absolutely grateful for her!