When I first met violinist Yuki Beppu, she was a
lovely, thoughtful and intelligent child at 4 years old. As she progressed quickly and
with such precision through The ABCs of
Violin books I knew she was a genius at the violin!
After eight months of study with me, I thought Yuki would
benefit greatly from entering New England Conservatory's Preparatory School where she would have regular master classes and recitals with other students of her caliber. She would also be able to take music theory classes and orchestra. She would be in a wonderful atmosphere to reach her full potential!
I found the perfect teacher for her on the NEC faculty, Kazuko Matsusaka of the Boston Symphony. After contacting her, we agreed to meet at Symphony Hall where Yuki would audition for her. Yuki's wonderful parents attended the audition. I hope it was an experience Yuki and her parents will never forget for I will always remember this unique opportunity for Yuki.
Yuki played extremely well and impressed Ms. Matsusaka very
much. Of course she passed the audition with flying colors by playing pieces, exercises and scales from The ABCs of Violin Book 3. Yuki was learning Fiddle Study, a piece I had written which is at the beginning of The ABCs of Violin Book 4 before she moved on to lessons with Ms. Matsusaka. I was happy to see Yuki continued studying this piece and played it at one of her first NEC recitals.
As the years passed I had the opportunity to attend a full
recital in spring 2007 given by Yuki Beppu in Newton, Massachusetts. She was ten years old. I was
thrilled to hear Yuki play very advanced repertoire with superb technique and artistic phrasing. Then and there I knew I had made the right decision about the NEC Preparatory School. Kazuko Matsusaka has an exceptional gift as a master teacher. Also, in November of 2007 Yuki won an NEC solo competition by playing the entire Wieniawski Violin Concerto in D minor. She played the solo with an NEC orchestra in spring 2008 with critical acclaim! It was a moving experience for all of us who attended. Yuki performs on The ABCs of Violin for the Intermediate Player DVD and CD. She had turned age 11 one week before the filming session.
In the 1970s I had the good fortune to study a total of
eight years with Eric Rosenblith, protégé of Carl Flesch, in the NEC
Preparatory School and the NEC
Conservatory. I am very happy that Yuki Beppu is having this same opportunity
with Kazuko Matsusaka.
UPDATE: Yuki Beppu has recently studied with pedagogue Eric Rosenblith and now at age 12 studies with Joseph Silverstein, former concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She has won numerous awards and has played with Yo-Yo Ma in Jordan Hall and Lynn Chang at Governor Deval Patrick’s Inauguration Gala in 2007. Her chamber music group at NEC, Trio Con Brio, appeared on the National Public Radio program From the Top in 2008. Her performances have stunning reviews, one titled Amazing Grace, Amazing Prodigy! | 
