Almos Quevedo

The most challenging work for any teacher is working with kids. Perhaps the most challenging is developing the physical side, establishing good posture, freedom of movement in the right arm, connecting the bow and sound, being aware of bow division, a light and active left hand, shifting etc.  All these aspects have reached great heights in development in the Russian school of violin playing and in particular in the teachings of the legendary Maya Glezarova, who is one of the teachers of Prof. Petrushevski.

Developing all these physical aspects, and developing equally on the other hand the need for good sound, hearing, taste, emotional involvement and the intellectual side of performing is a great challenge for any teacher.  The true sign of a good teacher is the ability to incorporate from the beginning all these sides of child’s education and to bring child’s playing to a very high level.  

Having a child who has the mental capacity to absorb all this information is rare. One of the students of Prof. Petrushevski, Almos Quevedo is indeed a very rare talent, who has potential to deal with the complexity of this information on a very high level.

Systematic teaching and going through standard repertoire is necessary to develop all aspects of the technical side. With Almos, Prof. Petrushevski went through the standard repertoire that included various studies and children’s  concertos.This resulted in the technical side of his playing developing systematically but at the same time with great speed. Almos is now playing with ease pieces such as Bazzini The Dance of the Goblins, all 5 movements of Lalo’s Symphony Espagnole, the Kreisler Recitative and Scherzo etc.

Another important aspect of teaching Almos was teaching him to play without shoulder rest. History shows us that many great violinist such as Heifetz, Milstein, Perlman etc. play and played without a shoulder rest. There are many advantages to such technique but at the same time the matter of dealing with shifts, especially on the way down, is indeed a difficult task. The flexibility of the left hand thumb is crucial in such an approach. The work that has been done with Almos in this regard has resulted in a very light but at the same time active left hand and a great left hand finger dexterity.

As a result of last two years of working with Almos, in March 2018 he will be performing in Vienna’s MusicVerein Golden Hall Bazzini’s “The Dance of the Goblins” sharing the stage with stars of the classical music world such as Ramon Vargas and Yusif Eyvazov.