You Shouldn't Have to Live in New York to Get Great Viola Teaching

What I Want Every Violist to Have Access To

There's something I've noticed over years of teaching and performing that I haven't been able to stop thinking about.

The best viola pedagogy — the really good stuff, the kind that changes how you play and how you think about the instrument — tends to live in a handful of cities. New York. Boston. Los Angeles. The major conservatories. If you're lucky enough to be there, or to study with someone who trained there, you get access to a depth of knowledge that can genuinely transform your playing.

But a lot of violists aren't there.

Most violists are working hard, practicing consistently, caring deeply about their instrument — and piecing things together as best they can with whatever resources happen to be available to them. A teacher who's good but not specialized. YouTube videos that may or may not be applicable to the viola specifically and only a handful of forums where violists get a handful of responses or a shrug.

It's not for lack of talent or commitment. It's a geography problem. And I think that's worth taking seriously.

That's one part of why I built the Viola Power Collective. I wanted to create a place where the quality of information available to you doesn't depend on your zip code. Where a violist in rural Montana has access to the same depth of resources as someone studying at a conservatory in Manhattan.

Here's what I've learned from years of teaching: information alone isn't enough.

What changes people isn't just having access to good fingerings or a well-explained bow technique. It's being in community with other people who are working on the same things. Asking the question you've been embarrassed to ask. Hearing that someone else struggled with exactly that shift for months too. Feeling like you belong to something — and that this deeply beautiful instrument has a real home for the beautiful people who love it.

That community piece matters as much to me as the resources. Maybe more.

The Viola Power Collective is my attempt to build both things at once: a resource library built specifically for violists, and a real community where you're not alone in the work.

It's for violists at every stage. Students finding their footing. Teachers developing their pedagogy. Performers who want to go deeper. People who picked up the viola three years ago and fell in love with it and don't know quite where to turn next.

If that's you — wherever you are — I built this for you.

[Join the Viola Power Collective → artofkimfoster.com/viola-power-collective-members]