Yvonne Frye

The German violinist and violin pedagogue Yvonne Frye studied violin at the Hochschule für Musik, Detmold, with John Lambos and Helge Slaatto, graduating with a Diploma of Violin Pedagogy. She continued her artistic studies at the Kärtner Landeskonservatorium in Klagenfurt, Austria in the violin class of Prof. Helfried Fister.

In addition to her teaching at music schools (Germany), Yvonne Frye has performed as a chamber musician in various ensemble combinations. As a freelance musician, she has also worked with many orchestras including the Detmolder Kammerorchester, and was concertmaster of the Kourion-Orchester Münster.

2007 Géza Szilvay invited Yvonne to teach at the East-Helsinki-Music-Institute. Since then she leads her own violin class in Helsinki.

From 2009 – 2021 Yvonne has been teaching Violin Pedagogy at the University of the Arts/ dept. Sibelius Academy in Helsinki as part time teacher.

Since Auguste 2021 she holds a permanent position as a Lecturer of Violin Pedagogy at the University of the Arts/ dept. Sibelius Academy.

She is traveling around the world, giving teacher training seminars and pedagogical lectures at various renowned institutions:  Münster Musikhochschule, ESTA Germany, ESTA Austria, Bundesakademie Trossingen, Hochschule für Musik Hans Eisler Berlin, USA – Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Boston String Academy, Chile (Foji), AUSTA Australia furthermore in South Africa, Poland, Spain, Greece, Switzerland, Denmark, Iceland etc.

In addition she is teaching chamber music for children and gives masterclasses for young violinists worldwide.

*click the session titles for descriptions & videos

Session 1.6: Workshop in bow-guiding

In this workshop participants will experience how to establish a balanced bow hand (violin) via the manual help of the teacher. In an almost physiotherapist way of working, we will look into different supporting grips. With the help of manual support, the student will be able to play smooth bow changes with a good core in the sound. These manual supports will help to establish a balanced bow hold with beginners (children and adult players), but they are also a valuable tool in remedial teaching. Furthermore, we will look at how manual help can support the development of different bow techniques like spiccato and staccato.

Session 2.2: Musical Talent – What is it?

The word talent in music is sometimes used with very fixed ideas of what it is. Often labels are put to children in classes: talented – not so talented. But music ability consists of so many different layers like deliberate practice, an inspirational environment, motivation, interest and support at home, to name just a few. These play a huge role in growing skills.

Some theories suggest that music aptitude consists of only 10 % genetic predisposition, the rest is hard work. Other studies find more of genetic predisposition.

The lecture aims to take a closer look at the current scientific findings and how music ability/ talent can be developed, nurtured and supported by us as teachers.

Session 3.4: Gender: Does it make a difference to your teaching? 

This lecture brings to the focus the question:  When boys and girls learn differently, how should the teaching strategies be changed? We will have a look into the different brain structures and also how hormones affect learning.  Often, educational institutions are more suitable for girls. Teachers are often women and sometimes the awareness for the differences of how boys and girls are learning is missing. This lecture offers boy-friendly teaching strategies and clarifies what it means to teach in a boy-friendly environment.