Meet the Contributors
Pearl de la Motte is a 16 year old from San Francisco and she currently studies viola with Dimitri Murrath at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She is one of 9 children and is homeschooled. She started playing the violin when she was just 2 years old then switched to the viola when she was 10. Pearl has won many awards for her playing and recently she won 1st place in the HB Goodlin Competition. When she’s not playing music, she works with her 6 year old sister on the violin, knits, and plays with her siblings.
Pearl is excited to become a contributor to help people practice better!
You can find Pearl on Instagram @pearlyviola04 and on Youtube at Pearl de la Motte.
John Fawcett is a violinist pursuing his Bachelor of Music degree at the Colburn Conservatory of Music, where he studies with Robert Lipsett. Since his solo orchestral debut at age nine, he has won multiple concerto competitions, and is a seven-time recipient of a Sunriver Music Festival Young Artist Scholarship. He has been a member of the New York String Orchestra and the American Youth Symphony, and has been featured on NPR’s From the Top and The Violin Channel’s Gilharmonic. Previously, John studied violin with Jan Mark Sloman and Kathryn Lucktenberg, and piano with Peter Brownlee. John loves taking care of his dogs and is sure that the best mornings are when you're inspired to get up early, blast music and make pancakes for no apparent reason.
John, as a contributor at Practice Notes, is grateful for the opportunity to share the wonderful musical mentorship he has been fortunate enough to receive. Furthermore, John discovered that creating a Technique Topic video was a wonderful learning experience as a music teacher! John is honored to be a contributor and hopes maybe you can be one too!
Steven Lu is a 14 year old violinist from Plano, Texas. He began studying violin at the age of 5 and a half, and since then has made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 13. Steven is the first prize winner of the 2017 and 2020 Collin County Young Artists Competition and the 2019 second prize winner of the National American Protege Concerto Competition. He has been invited to play for and participate in masterclasses for esteemed violinists such as Martin Beaver, Stefan Jackiw, and Augustin Hadelich. His past teachers include Charles Krigbaum and Diane Kitzman, and he currently studies with the world renowned pedagogue Jan Mark Sloman and is also mentored by violinist Stefan Jackiw.
Steven is a Practice Notes contributor because his passion for helping others with music is indescribable. He loves teaching others and creating content to help, even if it’s only through a screen. Steven is excited about Practice Notes because the process behind solving the key aspects of technique is extremely fascinating, and that's what Practice Notes is all about. His experience as a contributor was a fantastic learning experience.
You can find Steven and his violin on Instagram @stevenluviolin.
