Carolyn Tregaskis

Viola Tutor

 

Carolyn grew up in the Cotswolds and started the violin when she was 9. She  cycled everywhere and as she made progress on the violin and needed a better teacher this included cycling to her violin lesson 20 miles away in Oxford. When her local youth orchestra needed a principal viola and were offering to lend a viola to anyone up for the clef challenge, Carolyn leapt at the opportunity.

She went on to do a music degree at Hull university and enjoyed extensive chamber music coaching from members of the Allegri quartet and the Nash Ensemble. She also spent a year with Opera North on one of their first education for entry into the profession schemes.

 

She did a Post Graduate Performers diploma at the RNCM with Simon Rowland-Jones and began working as a freelance viola player with  orchestras across the country including the BBC orchestras in Manchester, Scotland and Wales, the Hallé,London Mozart Players, Opera North, Welsh National Opera and Manchester Camerata and also with Shirley Bassey, Neil Sadaka, Mystique and the Pet Shop Boys.

 

Carolyn has always enjoyed teaching and has never been without an extensive list of pupils many of whom have gone on to study at Chethams and various music colleges. She went back to college to study the Kodaly and Dalcroze approaches to teaching music and is continually refreshing her own approach with books, courses and workshops such as Time to Think and Mind Mapping as well as music centred learning.  The pupils that she finds most rewarding however, are the beginners of whatever age who want to start exploring music with an experienced but still curious guide.

 

Carolyn teaches from home, at her local primary school and at the RNCM. She lives in Stockport and still cycles to work as often as she can.