String Musicianship and Body Awareness

Join internationally acclaimed baroque violinist Rachel Podger for a joyful, hands-on exploration of ensemble playing and expressive musicianship.  This short course will cover gut-string playing, connecting the breath and the bow, and also body awareness and body resonance.  Rachel will introduce BOGA (a unique form of “bow-yoga”) as well as Alexander Techniques, chamber music making and improvising.

BOGA (bow-yoga) is a kind of yoga for string players, especially effective when playing with gut strings and baroque bows.  We integrate breath, body awareness and movement into our bowing technique to explore and improve our sound and expression, thereby increasing flexibility in our bowing arm, deepening the connection between our physicality and our sound.

Exercises focus on flexibility in the wrist and fingers and help create expressive and contrasting sounds and articulations, essential for figurations and gestures in baroque music.  We will explore how far we can play ‘into the string’, how to ‘speak’ and shape every note and give everything we do maximum meaning!