Violin Fixed Up

My violin was sounding pretty terrible; long over-due for Peter Prier & Sons to take a look at it. It needed a bow rehair, sound post adjustment and shim, finger-board planing, new set of strings, a french polish (having the wood clean actually enhances the sound) and cosmetic repair to prevent further, more extensive damage. It was super expensive - just about doubled our family's Christmas budget. But my violin sounds so wonderful now and it was oh, so worth it. What a huge difference a little maintenance can do. A really great way to start out 2011!

My Violin - All Fixed Up!

Christmas Group Lesson

Monday, December 20, 2010

We had a special guest for our Christmas Group Lesson - my sister all the way from Hartford, Connecticut! She played a few selections from her upcoming recital for her Master's Degree at the Hartt School of Music. She also joined in on the group lesson fun and was reminded of all the wonderful foundational techniques the Suzuki Method started her out with; mentioning review, specifically, as one of the most important aspects of her Suzuki training.

2010 Fall Recital

This recital was full of fun non-Suzuki repertoire with lots of duets and small ensembles in addition to the Suzuki solos.





Student artwork displayed.

Pictures with my boys after the performance:

Celebration Concert

This wonderful celebration of the Suzuki method brings thousands of Suzuki students from all around the state of Utah. This concert presented at the Conference Center in SLC, which only happens every 3 years, includes all Suzuki instruments such as violin, viola, cello, piano, harp, guitar, voice, etc. The theme for this concert was "A Joyful Journey." Michael McLean (the violinist/composer from California, not the Utah pianist/composer) wrote the music for the finale. The parts were challenging to learn but rewarding to perform.


This is my group of attending students. It was a fun day and an enjoyable concert.

Studio Parent Meeting

My wonderful group of Suzuki parents!

I thoroughly enjoy this annual parent meeting each fall as we share our triumphs, our frustrations, our thoughts and support eachother in the process of helping children we love learn a difficult instrument.

Summer Student Party

3 days before I delivered my second baby, we had our student party as scheduled (I wasn't too sure if we'd have to reschedule this one!). We enjoyed a barbeque lunch on my deck and played games.

Fun Times!

2010 Spring Recital

This recital was short, but sweet. The weather could not have been more perfect for this annual spring-time occasion. It was a perfect day for a stroll in the park (after the recital, of course).


Lisa Miner, our Piano Accompanist (Thanking her with Chocolates!)


Yummy, Beautifully Presented Food
(Being very pregnant, this hearty snack hit the spot!)

Suzuki Graduation

Congratulations to all of my graduating students! Prior to the concert I helped with tuning and afterward I passed out certificates. Since I didn't lead a piece or have my child with me, I got to sit back and enjoy the performance. Although they play the same music every year (since the graduation levels never change), I still really enjoy the concert very much. I'm always impressed with the level of musicianship these young students attain - impressive!

Christmas Group Lesson

Christmas Group Lesson 2009

This was our first Christmas in our new home and group lessons were festive! This Mickey violinist was one of our object lessons. It is impossible to demonstrate in a picture but poor Mickey can't bow straight and my very smart students figured out quickly just why. His elbow doesn't bend! That's right, in order to bow straight our elbows (and all the other joints in our arm/hand/fingers for that matter) must bend. It is a huge technique issue and it was fun to have Mickey teach us just how important the flexibility of our joints are in violin!

Terry Durbin

ISSI 1995 & ISSI 2009

Terry Durbin

November 21, 2009

Weber/Davis Suzuki Region

Layton High School Auditorium
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I've been enjoying Terry Durbin's teaching for many years. The pictures above are of my sister with Terry at ISSI back in 1995 and the other picture is of one of my students who had a class with him just this year at ISSI. In helping to plan this event, I had the unique privilege of learning more about Terry by writing his bio for the announcement of our workshops. I won't put it all here (you can google him if you want to learn more) but Terry flew in from Lexington, Kentucky where he lives with his wife. They have 3 children and 2 grandchildren. His unique brand of teaching and his infectious enthusiasm makes him one of the most sought after clinicians in the country. And we got to have him in our town!

2009 Fall Recital

Cathy Marlor (violin) & Janie Nebeker (piano)

Special thanks to our wonderful pianist!!!

As always, my students did a wonderful job on their solo peices and duets/groups. It is always so rewarding as a teacher to hear them perform!

Parent Meeting

This afternoon was our annual parent meeting held every year on the Monday after Labor Day. We were supposed to have a family potluck over at the park afterward but we got rained out. Bummer! I just want to send a special thanks to my studio parents for all the support and love you give your children. You are such wonderful examples to me and I appreciate you for being part of my violin studio!

Group Lessons on Deck

Welcome to my new studio! It is cute and cozy. Which makes it perfect for private violin lessons but a little cramped for group lessons. So, I have to get creative and this month our group lessons were out on the deck...

Cool, huh?!?

Our audience was the beautiful Utah mountains.

It's actually really fun to play outside. My students asked if we will be playing in the snow. Ha ha! We'll use my family room for the winter but as long as the weather is nice, we can enjoy the great outdoors!

Celebrating 25 Years

Today I turned 30 which means I am also celebrating 25 years (that's a quarter of a century!) of playing the violin. Many Suzuki students start young and I was no exception. It is so great to teach young students and be reminded of all the fun and challenging times I had with my wonderful Suzuki teachers. What a wonderful circle of life!

Intermountain Suzuki String Institute 2009

I got to attend ISSI 2009 for one day out

of the week long Suzuki summer camp.

Wednesday 06.17.09

I had 2 students attending this year.

We had lunch together and I had the privilege of
observing both of them with their teachers.

Picture with repertoire teacher, Koen Rens, from Belgium
(he is one of the funniest teachers; especially with his great accent!)

Picture with Terry Durbin

(an institute favorite coming to Davis County this fall!)
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I LOVE observing great teachers do their thing. There are so many wonderful ideas that come from this and I'm inspired by their creativity and teaching expertise. There are six pages of notes to add to my growing notebook of observations which I put into my "teaching bible." I am so happy that 2 of my students were able to attend this year. Utah is blessed to have one of the best Suzuki institutes around!

Circe Dopp and My Bows

This is Circe Dopp - soon to be mother of 6, dance instructor, and violin repair woman - a very talented lady!

A couple of weeks ago my bow was in desperate need of a rehair. I'm so glad I can call Circe, who is close by, to help me out with these things. The little bow (above my rehaired bow) is not from Circe but I thought it was super cute and fun to include since I just bought it at ISSI as a new teaching tool for my studio.

Circe Dopp Violins
801.726.8685
circe@clytieadams.com
330 N. Main in Kaysville
(by appointment only)

La Folia Memorized!

I am happy to say that today I played La Folia (all 4 pages) memorized for Jeanne (my teacher trainer) to finally pass all the requirements for Book 6 Teacher Training. This experience reminded me of how hard my students work each day to master the music that they learn and I appreciate all the effort they put into their little instruments. Listening to the music on CD (a LOT!) and drilling the hard parts made it so much easier to master. And isn't that the purpose of practice? To make a difficult instrument become easy!!!

Rebekah's Graduation Recital (Kaysville, UT)

This is my beautiful sister Rebekah rehearsing...

Rebekah Butler and Diane Bastian
(picture taken with her pianist right after the graduation recital)

Cathy Butler Marlor and Rebekah Butler
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It was so fun to have my students come and hear my sister play.
I'm so excited to follow her violin career as it progresses;
a professional in the making!

Suzuki Book 6 Teacher Training

Cathy Marlor & Jeanne Grover

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I decided to be ambitious this year. Along with building a house and chasing after my 2-year old, I took Suzuki Book 6 Teacher Training from Jeanne Grover. The class was 15 hours long with 8 hours of observations and this weekend I completed all the requirements except for one: memorizing LaFolia. I will be finishing that up soon and sending my registration of the course to the SAA. This will upgrade my status with the Suzuki Association of Utah to Advanced Active Teacher. Cool, huh!?! Jeanne, as always, is a wealth of knowledge and I'm excited to apply what I've learned. Thanks Jeanne!

Rebekah's Graduation Recital (Tucson, AZ)

February 1, 2009

Exactly 3 months ago, I sat in on one of the most inspiring performances I've ever been to - my sister's graduation recital.

Rebekah has become quite the violinist! She is graduating with her degree in violin performance from the University of Arizona.

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She will be doing an encore performance here in Utah...

you won't want to miss it!