Music Appreciation VIOLINIST TRAINS ARTISTS AND ARTS LOVERS
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s far as Ingrid Tracy Peters is concerned, she’s always played violin. “I started violin at age 3 because my mom saw a group class advertised, but I have no memory of this,” the Long Island native says. “It’s just something I’ve always done. It very quickly became who I was, even as a young child. Violin was core to my development.” Even more than being a violinist, Peters is a teacher. At age 15, she taught violin to a young friend, and then to the friend’s friend. She loved the experience and took training courses in the Suzuki Method of teaching. The curriculum and philosophy were created in the 1950s by Japanese violinist and pedagogue Shinichi Suzuki, where children learn music the same way they acquire a language. At the time, Peters was a student of Richard Brunelle, a beloved longtime music teacher at Davis High School who helped Peters discover her life path as a music educator. She studied music and French literature at UC Davis and started teaching at Midtown’s Pease Conservatory of Music at age 19. Though she had no intention of becoming a professional violinist, Peters ended up performing extensively with the Sacramento
Ingrid Tracy Peters Photo by Linda Smolek
JL By Jessica Laskey Open Studio
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