With more than 10 years of teaching experience at all levels, Nelly has taught at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and the Music Conservatory of Westchester. Nelly completed the two year Suzuki teacher training program at the School for Strings in New York, with further supplementary training at the Chicago Suzuki Institute, as well as professional development workshops for music educators at Carnegie Hall.

Nelly’s students have had many successful performances and auditions, including performing at Carnegie Hall, winning principal chairs (Inter-School Orchestras of New York and Westchester, NY All-County Orchestra), and obtaining perfect scores in New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) All-State auditions.

Why Teach?

I love teaching because of the gift of giving my students the power to express themselves through music. In order for students to be able to do so freely, they must overcome a variety of technical challenges in their playing. To achieve this, I strive to give my students a strong basis in the fundamentals of cello playing through an emphasis on scales, arpeggios and etudes.

My Teaching Philosophy

I believe that my role as an educator is to provide my students with the tools to make the music their own. I encourage my students to research the composers, time period and stylistic conventions of the music they are performing in order to make informed artistic choices about their interpretation. This helps them craft a compelling interpretation of a work and requires mindful intention in their musical choices. It is important they know the background and the whole story for why this work exists and what it meant for the composer, because it gives them clues as to how to approach performing it. I also encourage my students to explore a variety of technical options, to try different bowings, fingerings and phrasing, and choose the option that speaks strongest to them. This involvement in the decision making process gives the student a true sense of ownership of the music.

Music is a universal language and a gift that can take students in many different directions in life. Its study helps build character, self-esteem, creativity, cooperation, discipline and other valuable life skills.