About Us
Violin Instructor, Nicole Scoffield
Nicole Scoffield is an accomplished violinist who has been performing
and teaching in southwest British Columbia for over fifteen years. Besides
teaching she plays the violin in numerous bands and orchestras and is
a rounded performer who composes, arranges and sings lead occasionally.
A musician’s musician this girl can go from Bach to Rock. After finishing her bachelor’s degree, Nicole completed UVic’s post degree professional program in teaching. Since then she has taught individual, semi-private and group classes in both public and private institutions. Nicole’s teaching style is influenced by the repertoire she learned growing up as well as the different musical genres in which she performs.
She believes that proper technique is essential in order to enable a student to perform whatever he wants. Additionally she believes that it is important to include all aspects of musical development in a person, thus she includes aural, reading and improvisational exercises in her lessons. Nicole uses the Suzuki and the Royal Conservatory of Music grade books in her lessons for beginners.
She also enhances her students’ experience by teaching them some fiddle tunes. She often writes arrangements aimed at helping her students improve on a specific area in which they may need practice. She has two books which contain helpful exercises and fiddle arrangements for beginners and intermediate players.
This teacher knows that it is important for a student to have goals. That is why she occasionally tests her students and encourages them to perform whenever possible. She has found that group performance experience is ideal for getting the novice player out in front of an audience.
Nicole also accompanies her beginner students on the piano when she is able. With the opening of her own teaching studio in Vancouver, located at the Broadway Academy of the Arts, she is excited to share her love of music with pupils of all ages. Nicole welcomes any budding violinists and fiddlers who are interested in having classes with her.
Drumming Instructor, Jan Kozlowski
As a professional session drummer I have played
in many countries around the world. This wide musical exposure forced me to learn and play
wide range of musical styles from mainstream rock,
jazz, latin, to Bulgarian folk music.
I also teach drumming in my studio. As a teaching aid, I use high-quality sound and midi hardware so that learning becomes more like fun and inspiration. I use the latest videos of prominent drummers to illustrate different techniques and playing styles.
I work with students of all levels from beginners to even quite experienced. If you are applying to the Berklee Collge of Music, UBC, Capilano College or other music schools, I can help you get better prepared and less stressed during the admissions.
I believe that drumers should be able to play equally with all four limbs,
and that’s how I teach even the very beginners. My playing and teaching experience shows that you progress fastest when you incorporate the simultaneous four-limb approach at the earliest level.
If you have been playing for a while and feel that, as a drummer, you could not advance in your drumming technique - you have most likely developed bad habits which you should identify and correct orget rid of. I fought bad habits many times during many years I was developing my own technique. I started as a right-handed
drummer, switched to left-handed drumming after I felt I was getting stuck playing clishes, and than back to sort of left-handed drumming on a right-handed drum kit. Today, it almost doesn't matter to me where the drums in my kit are positioned.