The Virtuoso Master Course
Reinvent your approach to your instrument and the music you play. A curated experience for 2022, led by virtuoso violinist Nathan Cole.
Your “Story”
May Be Holding You Back.
It’s Time for a Rewrite.
I’m going to borrow a joke from The Simpsons and embarrass myself at the same time. Here’s what I essentially told myself at the beginning of 2021:
“I’m tired of being a wannabe concertmaster. I wanna be a concertmaster!”
At that moment, I knew that I had some work to do…not just on my playing, but on my story. Each of us has one. It’s that lifetime of accumulated baggage that we carry around alongside our cases.
Every minute you spend playing your instrument, you’re either reinforcing or fighting against that story. And like me, you probably didn’t even realize it was there.
Occasionally you edit your story. But most days you simply embellish, feeding it and making it stronger. Finally, you forget that the whole thing is fiction, your own invention.
Are you a great player who chokes under pressure? A plodding performer who doesn’t show enough character? A late starter who never got the right training? A sloppy practicer who doesn’t deserve to play like everyone else?
Nobody can write your story but you. But I can help you rewrite it.
Don’t Go It Alone
You could spend hundreds or thousands of hours in a practice room, trying to solve technical and musical problems with nothing more than your own energy and wits. Or you could do what the best players have always done: draw knowledge and inspiration from direct contact with master players and dedicated peers.
I had a conversation with James Ehnes once about the importance of feedback, and he said, “You’re lucky: you’re married to one of the great players!” Indeed I am (more on Akiko below)…and her inspiration begins when my energy and knowledge run out.
When you join the VMC, here are the key qualities you’ll share with your fellow participants:
Curiosity
The more open you are to seeing and hearing without preconceptions, the greater the change you can make. I’ve made some of my greatest strides after asking the question, “What if what I’ve always believed simply isn’t true?”
Knowledge
Many technical problems on the violin and viola have fairly simple solutions. They may require dedication and repetition to put into practice, but I can give you the tools and processes, based on my decades of experience in concerts and auditions. Of course, see above… I always reserve the right to discover a better way than what I “knew” before!
Accountability
In the VMC, you’re part of not just a studio, but a team. We all pull for each other and support each other’s goals. In fact, your VMC won’t be the same as anyone else’s, because your goals are unique. And having the opportunity (and the responsibility) to check in with your team will keep you on track all year long.
Here’s What Alumni Say
Meet Your Guides
Nathan Cole
I’m Nathan Cole, First Associate Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and for the past twenty years, I’ve been helping professional violinists solve problems, win auditions, and transform their careers.
I grew up in Kentucky, then went to the Curtis Institute of Music. What a shock! I had some ground to make up, so I had to get used to major hours in the practice room.
But there was a problem: even with all those hours, I wasn’t learning the difficult rep any faster. I was inconsistent day to day, and worst of all, from the practice room to the stage. By the time I realized I needed help, I was out of school and on my own.
That’s when I decided that if I ever wanted to find out how far I could take my playing, I had to develop my own practice method. It had to give me steady gains that would stay with me under pressure. And it had to fit around my full-time orchestra job.
Now I’m able to share that method with a worldwide audience of tens of thousands, all from my home in Pasadena. Your audience is out there, too. I’d love to help you reach them!
Violist and Director of Operations Kate Reddish has been part of every Virtuoso Master Course, and will curate your experience in 2022.
Kate’s unique ability to listen to the “message behind the message”, particularly for classical musicians, allows her to work closely with Nathan in designing an individual program for each VMC participant.
As a lifelong performer in both music and dance, Kate has been with you in the practice room and onstage. She also knows Nathan’s teaching, as well as the massive VMC archive from which she draws additional resources to support your goals.
Kate continues to perform regularly in orchestras and recording sessions throughout the Los Angeles area.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Assistant Concertmaster, Akiko Tarumoto, joins the VMC as our Virtuoso on Call!
While I grew up sheltered in the bucolic Kentucky bluegrass, Akiko trained in the rough-and-tumble Juilliard studio of Dorothy DeLay. By the time she was 18, she had absorbed enough violin wisdom for several lifetimes, and decided to take her life in a different direction.
But while she was earning her English degree at Harvard, music called her back, and she rediscovered the joys of great violin playing…and the frustrations of long hours in the practice room!
Akiko is also my wife, and she knows better than anyone what it’s like to balance performing, auditioning, teaching, and family life. Her complementary approach will be an essential part of your road map.
The Virtuoso Master Course, Reinvented
I’ve led more than 50 violinists and violists through three Virtuoso Master Courses over the last several years. You’ll hear from them further down this page, and they’ve accomplished some amazing things during our time together.
But for this fourth Virtuoso Master Course, I’ve redesigned the program from the ground up, keeping the core values intact while adding elements that will help us clarify your goals and keep you on track to achieve and even surpass them:
Many technical problems on the violin and viola have fairly simple solutions. They may require dedication and repetition to put into practice, but I can give you the tools and processes, based on my decades of experience in concerts and auditions. Of course, see above… I always reserve the right to discover a better way than what I “knew” before!
Each of us brings different strengths and weaknesses to our music. Therefore no system could hope to reach everyone equally well. In the VMC, your path will be different from everyone else’s because we’ll focus on what you need. You’ll enjoy a mix of one-on-one sessions with me, goal-setting and follow-through from our Director of Operations Kate Reddish, small group projects, studio classes, and special guests. If we don’t have a resource you need, we’ll create it!
Akiko Tarumoto, Assistant Concertmaster of the LA Philharmonic, is already familiar to many of you as co-host of our podcast, Stand Partners for Life. But she’s also a deadly audition assassin and your personal “Virtuoso on Call” during the VMC. Just send her a video message when you’re stuck on a problem, and she’ll respond in kind. Problem solved!
What’s not changing is my focus on helping you master your instrument. And that mastery comes from my proven practice system: Practice Makes Performance. With the proper mindset, tools, and techniques, you can move past your difficulties and focus on saying what you want to say through the repertoire you choose.
As always, this VMC will be a select group of passionate performers and teachers just like you. You’ll be able to ask the questions and reveal the insecurities that have held you back, perhaps for years, without fear of judgment. Over the past few years (and all their trials), I’ve lost count of how many times a participant said, “Looking forward to our studio class was all
that kept me motivated this week!”
Here’s What You Get
in the Virtuoso Master Course
Individual Sessions
Full-Group Workouts
Studio Master Class
Small Group Projects
HD Video Library
Virtuoso on Call
Sneak peek
A Sneak Peek
“The VMC is a life-changing experience.”
“Nathan’s encyclopedic knowledge of repertoire, and that includes solo, chamber, and orchestral repertoire, is matched only by his encyclopedic knowledge of technical solutions on the instrument.”
“Before, I’d spend hours practicing but it wasn’t targeted enough to see the kind of improvements that I needed. Nathan helped me focus on the skills I needed to improve the most. He has a special ability to pinpoint and distill the most essential information incredibly clearly.”
