Kendra Grittani is an experienced cellist, having started playing at only four years old. Kendra has completed her Masters in cello performance at McGill University with accomplished symphonic and chamber musician, and cello professor, Elizabeth Dolin.
Kendra has performed with various orchestras including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the McGill Symphony Orchestra, the McGill Opera Orchestra, the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, the Thunderbay Symphony Orchestra, and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.
Recently, after forming the piano trio, Trio Meira, the chamber group swept the McGill Chamber Music Competition 2018, being awarded 1st prize. Along with a debut performance in Montreal, Trio Meira was awarded a week long residency at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.
Kendra has also had the privilege to perform alongside accomplished professionals such as Axel Strauss, Stephane Lemelin, Elizabeth Dolin, Ariel Barnes, Riko Higuma and many more. Kendra is currently a substitute musician with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra cello section, the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony cello section, and the Thunderbay Symphony Orchestra cello section. Kendra is working as a freelance cellist, chamber musician and as a private teacher in Toronto.
Get to know Kendra…Beyond the Bio!
Hobbies: Aerial Acrobatics, animal care.
Musical influences: Johannes Moser and Santiago Cañon-Valencia
Favourite food: Sushi
Least favourite food: onion
Favourite music: Esperanza Spalding and Ariana Grande
Favourite song: Midnight in Harlem – Tadeschi Trucks Band
Favourite musical theatre/opera: Hamilton
Favourite book: The Book Thief
Best thing about teaching at ABC: Exchanging teaching techniques with other excellent teachers
Latest Homework from KENDRA
Is Kendra Your Teacher?
Sign up now to get your weekly assignments delivered, and never lose your homework sheet again!
Matthew Nov 29th
Matt! You have made so much progress. Keep it up. Thank you for paying such close attention to all your notes.
Slurred string Crossings
- Work on the exercise even slower this week
- make sure the thumb is bent and relaxed
- metronome so it is slow enough = 55-60
- really focus on everything being as smooth as possible: no articulation when changing strings or changing bow direction
C major 2 octaves
- more exaggerated angleon the C string. tip should point AWAY from you and the cello
- on the A string, think of pointing the elbow and frog away when teh bow is at the tip
- much slower when doing one note per bow
- add two notes per bow: use half a bow per note, still using the full bow for the whole scale. Try not to stop the bow when changing notes or strings
Add two notes per bow to also G and D major
- when practicing still start with plucking or one note per bow, then add two notes when you feel comfortable and prepared.
Study book link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RZA-wSvxGmKW2WzaQnRrR9_tWfy9XUXW/view?usp=sharing
Twinkle solid bow
- practice without the thumb, think about hanging from the instrument to sink into the string. we aren’t squeezing or pressing with tension in ordering to find our pitch.
- the thumb will just hover behind the neck, our fingers will still be rounded.
- our thumb is just intended as a guide
- keep using the correct bow angle and 2/3rds
- make sure there is a traight line from the elbow to the wrist of the left hand. Think of the strength and weight coming from theupper arm/biceps. Adjust the angle so you dn’t need to flex your wrist.
Lightly Row
- careful with pitch – tendency to be sharp
- listen for ringing 4th finger
- Add the bow: the bowing is as it comes. make sure all notes are connected. There are no rests or breaks between sections
- make sure the left hand isn’t slanted/angled
- G drone
Work on plucking Song of the Wind:
- careful t note have slanted hands
- listen for ringing 4th fingers
Preferred Books for Kendra’s Students
Click to buy them here, and they’ll come right to your house! What could be easier?
Suzuki Cello School
Teach cello with the popular Suzuki Cello School. The Suzuki Method(R) of Talent Education is based on Shinichi Suzuki’s view that every child is born with ability, and that people are the product of their environment. According to Shinichi Suzuki, a world-renowned violinist and teacher, the greatest joy an adult can know comes from developing a child’s potential so he/she can express all that is harmonious and best in human beings. Students are taught using the “mother-tongue” approach.
Suzuki Cello School
Teach cello with the popular Suzuki Cello School. The Suzuki Method(R) of Talent Education is based on Shinichi Suzuki’s view that every child is born with ability, and that people are the product of their environment. According to Shinichi Suzuki, a world-renowned violinist and teacher, the greatest joy an adult can know comes from developing a child’s potential so he/she can express all that is harmonious and best in human beings. Students are taught using the “mother-tongue” approach.
Suzuki Cello School
Teach cello with the popular Suzuki Cello School. The Suzuki Method(R) of Talent Education is based on Shinichi Suzuki’s view that every child is born with ability, and that people are the product of their environment. According to Shinichi Suzuki, a world-renowned violinist and teacher, the greatest joy an adult can know comes from developing a child’s potential so he/she can express all that is harmonious and best in human beings. Students are taught using the “mother-tongue” approach.
I Can Read Music
These easy-to-read, progressive exercises by Joanne Martin develop a student’s reading skills one stage at a time, with many repetitions at each stage. I Can Read Music is designed as a first note-reading book for students of string instruments who have learned to play using an aural approach such as the Suzuki Method(R), or for traditionally taught students who need extra note reading practice. Its presentation of new ideas is clear enough that it can be used daily at home by quite young children and their parents, with the teacher checking progress every week or two.
Position Pieces for Cello
Position Pieces for Cello is designed to give students a logical and fun way to learn their way around the fingerboard. Each hand position is introduced with exercises called “Target Practice,” “Geography Quiz,” and “Names and Numbers.” Following these exercises are tuneful cello duets that have been specifically composed to require students to play in that hand position. In this way, students gain a thorough knowledge of how to find the hand positions, and once there, which notes are possible to play.
