Mark Rush

I’ve been fortunate to study with many of the finest artists and teachers of the 20th century each influencing me in some important way. My own teaching blends ideas and methods gleaned from teachers as well as from the hard knocks of experience. Here is a complete list of my teachers:

Bebe Rush (my mom) – She somehow managed to get me to practice when I wanted to be outside playing with my friends.
Leonard Felberg – My teacher through high school. He established my fundamentals, instilled a love for the instrument and a respect for the great tradition.
Ivan Galamian – At Meadowmount. I mostly remember how much he scared me.
David Cerone – Also at Meadowmount.
Dorothy DeLay – Two summers at Aspen Music Festival. She gave me great lessons and on time!
Itzhak Perlman – I loved him but he wasn’t the right teacher for me.
Oswald Lehnert – At the University of Colorado where I completed my BM degree. His motto, NO FEAR!
Nathan Milstein – At his master class in Zurich. The MASTER…
Szymon Goldberg – At Yale School of Music. Also a great violinist and superb musical intellect.
Arthur Grumiaux – In Brussels as a Fulbright Scholar. His influence continues to inspire me on a daily basis.

I also coached chamber music with:
Tokyo String Quartet
Raphael Hillyer
Menahem Pressler

My teaching career began at the University of Virginia where I worked for several years before accepting my current position at the University of Arizona. I also taught at the Killington Music Festival in Vermont for four summers.

Many of my students have gone on to study at major music schools including Juilliard, Eastman, New England Conservatory, Manhattan, and Stony Brook.

A large number of former students now have successful careers in music:

Performing with Amsterdam Philharmonic
Performing with St. Loius Symphony
Performing with Hong Kong Philharmonic
Performing with San Antonio Symphony
Performing with Arizona Opera
Performing with Tucson Symphony Orchestra
Performing in professional chamber groups
Teaching at the University of South Florida
Teaching at the University of Idaho
Teaching at the Eastern Mediterranean University in Cyprus
Teaching strings in public schools and in private studios
Artistic Director, Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival
Freelancing in New York, Boston and Los Angeles

My teaching centers on the idea that music and technique cannot be separated. Understanding musical intent informs technical choices. That said, every violinist must have a good basic setup and I believe I have streamlined this process into clearly articulated concepts dealing with a violinist’s major issues: posture and position, bow direction, intonation, vibrato, shifting, etc.

I use the Carl Flesch scale system extensively. All my college seniors must know the entire system by memory in order to graduate. Although I recognize there are other excellent scale methods, I like Flesch for its concise and practical application to the repertoire. Practicing Flesch is like doing yoga for the violin.

With every new student, I try to establish a long-term work plan commiserate with the student’s personal goals. Lessons are balanced between the need to cover material (scales, etudes, repertoire) and the importance of addressing specific instrumental issues needing improvement (a wavering contact point, for example). When a new piece is assigned, we always begin by taking a detailed look at the score to fully understand the composer’s intentions. From this point, decisions about bowings, fingerings and the exploration of technical challenges begin. In time, I like for students to do this work for themselves so that in the first lesson on a new piece we discuss the choice of bowings and fingerings. Usually, I consider areas needing improvement when I assign a new piece but at the same time I also try to cover wide variety of musical periods and genres.

I spend a lot of time discussing strategies for practicing. Most of us waste the bulk our practice time. Understanding how we learn both physically and mentally and developing intelligent practice schemes is perhaps our most important task. Practicing effectively has very little to do with how much time one actually spends and I always laugh when I hear about someone practicing ten hours a day. More than likely, most of that time would have been better spent going for a hike or something of the sort.

I believe it is an asset to study with a teacher who performs. Almost all my teachers were active players. Performing a work gives more insight into what actually works than anything else. In my own case, playing and teaching are completely intertwined, each informing the other.

An understanding of the modern musical world is necessary in order to make appropriate career choices. Many music schools are preparing students for careers that effectively no longer exist. Most of us pursue music as a profession because of our profound feelings for the power of the art. However, being a professional musician today requires a multitude of varying skills, creativity, business sense and entrepreneurial effort in addition to being a fine player. I try to address these issues as much as possible in lessons.