Daryl Wang, 11 years old, who has studied under Denise for 6 years, says:
I love playing the violin, especially fast music! And Denise knows that! She is a wonderful teacher. She is demanding but knows to push me just hard enough to get the best out of me! She also knows when I am fooling around! She makes learning fun so that it is not a chore. Denise is also kind and patient and is always trying to help me improve my violin playing skills. Most of all, she is a friend.
Denise Chevalier has a doctorate in Music from Stanford University. From a family of three highly-gifted children, Denise and her siblings, Renee Chevalier and Bernard Chevalier, have given concert performances here and abroad to great acclaim; in addition they have contributed greatly to the music education of both young and old. Despite her brilliance, Denise is wonderfully patient with her students and always caring about their needs and growth. Through her own childhood experiences of learning music and her years of teaching music, she has developed a philosophy of teaching that cultivates a love for music and promotes creative expression of music.
In working with children, she focuses on developing the whole child and strives to understand individual innate strengths so as to bring out the best from each child. Her teaching style reflects a constant effort to create a balance between creativity and technique and skill.
Charlotte Epstein, an adult student, shares her thoughts by email from a music camp in the UK:
Hi Denise,
I assume that you will probably read this when you are back home but if I don't write while it is fresh I will forget everything. It is great fun being back here. There are lots of people that I know from last year and it is always easier knowing one's way around.
In full orchestra we played some short pieces by Janacek. It is quite amazing how the tutors manage to find music that is accessible, interesting, and not overly familiar. With the magic of computers they can write out parts for the beginners and intermediate players as well. Also we don't have any extra time to practice because classes go until 9:30 at night so the music has to be worked out at rehearsals. Late nights are spent in the bar just socializing or playing show tunes. In another group I am doing Haydn op.104 London Symphony transcribed for all strings with timpani. Then there is American Band -- fiddle music, ragtime etc -- which is great fun because it is easy and I can just play away.
I am the star of my chamber group (but since the 2nd violin can't play out of 1st position, that's not so surprising)! In the first chamber group I was in, I stopped at one point and noted that we were not together. One of the other players said she didn't know how I knew -- gives you a general idea of the playing level! We are working on selections from Mozart Divertimenti k136-138. I can really play the 1st violin part without too much difficulty. We have a wonderful tutor who manages to offer us 2 or 3 bits of wisdom that really make a difference. We are noticeably better after his 15 minutes of help. I realize that there isn't a necessary relationship between ability and enjoyment. Some of the players here are really not very good but they have a wonderful time anyway. I met one woman who has been playing for 8 years is still a 2nd violinist. Looking around the room I do realize that I have actually learned quite a bit of technique but still have years to go. I am lucky that you suggested I take up the violin again when Danya [age 6] was studying with you otherwise I would have missed out on a lot of fun.
Saturday July 26, 2003 at Heathrow Airport
Denise lives with her husband, Joe Lordi, who plays the piano beautifully when he is able to take time away from his Silicon Valley professional activities.
