Caitlin Fowler, violin teacher for the Utah Conservatory, customizes her lessons to meet individual students’ needs, but she has one constant making lessons a “family affair.”
“I try to get the parents engaged and the students excited,” Fowler said during an interview with the Park Record. “I am constantly coming up with ways to keep everyone involved. Music should be fun and not nerve wracking. Lessons can be intense, but students can become good players without being stressed out all the time.”
Fowler’s teaching philosophy fits with the Utah Conservatory’s mission to enrich the lives of their students through training that includes “courses and lessons in a positive environment of creativity, self-discovery, self-esteem and compassion.”
“The (Conservatory’s staff) really cares about creating well-rounded musicians,” said Fowler, who joined the conservatory’s faculty in 2008. “It’s fun when the kids are in a lesson with me, because they’ve got straight violin, but they hear drums next door.
“The conservatory also gives great opportunities to perform and take theory classes, which makes it possible for the students to go home and achieve goals on their own,” she said.
Fowler’s conservatory students’ ages range from 4 to adult, which gives her a challenge when creating lesson plans.
“Every single person is different.” she said. “You have to approach every half hour increment differently. Some need work on reading. Some need work on execution. So I try to focus on their needs and give them options.”
Fowler, who teaches the Suzuki method and is planning to become a fully Suzuki-certified teacher next summer, said she faces a unique challenge when teaching adults.
“It’s so great to see these adults come in,” she said. “Because a lot of them played when they were younger and they want to come back again. But it can be a little daunting for them because the violin can be a tough instrument. I try to get them focused and help them know if they keep at it, one day it’s going to sound great.”
Fowler was in kindergarten when she first saw a violin played live.
“One of my friends brought a violin for show-and-tell and played ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’,” she said. “It made me want to take lessons.”
At that time, Fowler also wanted to ice skate and play piano.
“My parents didn’t know anything about ice skating and we didn’t have a piano,” she said. “So, after a year, they let me play the violin. They had no idea what they were getting themselves into.”
Playing the violin was fun at first, Fowler said. “Then I hit those years when I hated it. I hated practicing. I even had tear stains on my violin, because I just didn’t want to do it.”
After multiple arguments with her parents, Fowler “reluctantly” formed a two-hour daily practice routine that was only accomplished if she woke up early in the morning.
“It worked because I would go to my lessons prepared,” Fowler said. “As I started to feel more confident, and my teacher started giving me more responsibilities, something clicked and it became fun again.”
At 14, Fowler got involved in ballet and was in Ballet West’s production of “The Nutcracker.”
“I had a friend who also took violin, and for a while we both thought we were going to quit violin and do ballet,” she said.
When it came down to the wire, Fowler, whose favorite composers include Barber, Beethoven and Mozart, quit ballet.
“I had to choose which one I was going to take more seriously, and the violin won.”
Fowler, a graduate from the University of Utah’s School of Music, attended the University of California’s Thorton School of Music and played with the USC Symphony and Chamber Orchestra.
She became interested in teaching because of her love for the instrument and her respect for her teachers.
“Teaching is so awesome because it’s rewarding all the time,” Fowler said. “I always feel like I’m making at least a little bit of a difference, because I know how much my teachers have affected my life. I don’t feel like we are just creating great musicians, but good people.
“Learning music touches on everything,” she said. “Yes, you learn how to play an instrument, but you learn how to be gracious to your audience. You learn diligence and integrity when you make sure you play those notes correctly, rather than just letting them go.”