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
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Matthew: Nov 8th
Great work this week! Please see attached picture for your reference of excellent cello posture.
C major 1 octave
- make sure thumb stays under the 2nd finger
- raise left arm for lower strings
- add the 2nd octave
- keep working with a C drone – can use one on youtube
G major 1 octave
- when we say lower, we mean pitch wise. move your hand towards the scroll
- keep working with a drone
D major 1 octave
Music theory: understanding sharps. The order of sharps FCGDAEB (father charles goes down and ends battle). The key name will be the note above the last sharp.
- D major has two sharps
- try not to slant the fingers. keep them rounded
- 3 and 4 are close together. Try to think of having the 3rd finger higher
- use our ear to find pitches. try not to look at your left hand before or while you are playing.
Bow exercises
2nd finger will go on the metal piece. All the other fingers will naturall fall on the bow, straight and relaxed. pinky will be next to the other fingers, not on top of the wood. Thumb will be opposite the 2nd finger,bent and relaxed, not flexed.
- point the tip/point of the bow upwards
- tap the fingers alternating 1, 2, 3, 4, then 1+4, 2+3, 1+3, 2+4
- now turn the tip on its side and do the same exercise, all the while keeping the same bow hold and keeping the fingers relaxed
Twinkle
- Don’t let your fingers slant
- good intonation! :)
- practice in front of a mirror, watching the left hand to made sure the fingers stay rounded and in the correct position
- drop left arm for A string. Think about the wrist – Are you flexing the wrist to push down the string or using arm weight?
French Folk Song
- Practice singing first, listen to recordings online if you are struggling to remember the tune
- try to start without looking at your left hand
- in D major – 2 sharps
- practice with a D drone
- practice in front of a mirror to make sure the left arm is in the right position
- make sure the thumb is bent and relaxed through the whole
Open bowed strings
- practice bowing open strings: Start with just A and D
- use your bridge as a reference for the correct bow angle
- on the A string, the tip will turn towards you, and the frog will point away
- When you pull the bow (doing a down bow) the elbow will start in at the cello, then it will raise up as the arm expands and the bow travels to the tip on the string.When you push the bow (an up bow) the opposite will happen. bringing the elbow back into the cello as you move to the frog
- make sure the bow stays in the middle lane: halfway between teh end of the fingerboard and the bridge
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.
