Evangeline Benedetti
Alexander for Musicians
Alexander Teachers can better serve musicians if we understand the practical application of directions, inhibition, and non-doing to playing. We will discuss what goes into achieving dexterity and expresivity on any instrument. I will demonstrate my method of integrating 1) the music, 2) the instrument, and 3) the body, to achieve these objectives in practice and performance.
• Sitting or standing is a primary technique for playing any instrument. Learn to work with students to identify ways in which their instrumental technique can rest on a more solid foundation.
• Directions for a musician must include the complete inner aural “sound” picture. We will explore this idea through demonstration and discussion. Learning how to think like a musician is the key to communicating effectively.
• Inhibiting and non-doing is an enhancement of practice. We will workshop creative ways to encourage students to get beyond the notes and rhythms, to free themselves of built-in tensions and learn in an healthier and more productive way.
• Learn to deliver the ultimate goal: integration of body, mind and instrument for success in practice, auditions, and performance.
Bring your instrument, any level of playing is acceptable, or voice, for demonstration and experimentation.
Evangeline Benedetti, cellist in the New York Philharmonic since 1967,
certified teacher of the Alexander Technique since 1991, combines her traditional musical training and experience with the principles of the Alexander Technique in her approach to playing and teaching. She has performed in chamber music concerts with artists such as pianists, Efim Bronfman, Vladimir Feltsman, and colleagues, including Stanley Drucker, clarinet, and Philip Smith, trumpet, in Merkin Hall, Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall, and Casals Hall in Tokyo.
She has given master classes in her approach to musicians in San Diego,
Tokyo, Kyoto, and Shanghai, and in the Juilliard, Manhattan, and Mannes Schools of Music, as well as the Violoncello Society of New York. She recently taught a master class in cello to students in Pyongyang, North Korea. She has an article entitled, “Playing in a Symphony,” published in Directions, Vol.1 #8.
Currently, she teaches privately in New York City and continues to perform.