HARVEY, Mich. (WZMQ) – The Violin Art Auction coming to town this Saturday is all about repurposing old musical instruments into a showcase of art but there’s more to music than just an instrument.
Studying music usually requires instruments, sheet music, and hours of perpetual practice, but starting your teaching studio is another repertoire to learn.
Clara Hardie who will be hosting a Violin Art Auction this Sunday, began learning the Violin from the age of 5 and opened the Youth Volume Studio in Detroit in 2010. “I had been working at the Capuchin Soup Kitchen in the Rosa Parks youth program for four years at that point I was doing art therapy, tutoring, and peace camp but I also realized that if I don’t become a violin teacher and a Suzuki teacher the kids I know and love at the soup kitchen won’t be able to access it,” commented the Director of Youth Volume Studio Clara Hardie.
Hardie said she noticed a large cultural difference between communities like here in the UP, to communities like in Detroit. She learned and started teaching the Suzuki Method, a Japanese-born style that was introduced to the music community just after World War 2, focused on repetition, and memorization to bring peace to the world through music.
“I had been a Suzuki kid my whole life but learning about the whole philosophy I connected so much more deeply with it,” continued Hardie. Supporting the next generation with music, Hardie believes can bring more social change in the world and collaboration with diverse communities.
“Resilience, having to practice every day and repetition, innovation where they are making up their songs with improvising and collaboration,” continued Hardie.
A new student of the violin might not be as progressed as the next player, but Hardie believes the whole point of practice, is to find your own way to perform the passion behind the music. “Know that you do not have to be perfect at it getting a foundational level of skills will take you to the point of being able to find your own voice which is the whole point of it,” continued Hardie.
Click here, for those interested in learning more about Clara, or supporting local music and the upcoming Violin Art Auction.