Teaching Topics and Philosophy

Topics:
Violin Performance: Scale systems, bow techniques, shifting, thirds and double stops, etudes and sonatas, concerto preparation.
Jazz Improvisation: Chord structure, voice leading, functional harmony, counterpoint, aural skills, blues and bebop vocabulary, melodic development.
Musicianship: Form and tone development, rhythmic understanding, music history, audition preparation, stage presence, ensemble performance techniques.

Philosophy:
As an instructor, Chetrick is committed to developing each student’s technical ability as a foundation for curiosity and expression. She works with each student’s unique learning background and builds upon instrumental technique, tone production, rhythmic understanding, and aural facility. She views practice and learning as lifelong, evolving processes, and approaches music as a language that fosters both self-understanding and dialectical growth.

Biography

Violinist and composer Alyssa Chetrick engages seamlessly between the jazz, theater, and classical scenes in New York and Tokyo.

At 19, she made her off-Broadway debut in Japan as an ensemble cast member (Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812). She has since performed and directed for ensembles in venues such as Blue Note Place, Smalls Jazz Club, Lincoln Center, The Tokyo Metropolitan Theater, Jazz Gallery, The Schwarzman Center, 54 Below, and Nublu. As a sideman, she has worked with members such as Reggie Workman, James Griffin, Rin Seo, Eiko Ishibashi, and Marty Holoubek.

Chetrick obtained her BA/BFA in global studies (Lang) and Jazz and Contemporary music from the College of Performing Arts at the New School. She currently holds a chair in the Yale Modern Jazz Ensemble directed by Wayne Escoffery.

Chetrick composes for film, chamber, theater, galleries, and for her own ensemble; merging a dual musical background with contemporary influences.  Her newest album “What Blooms in the Dark,” reflects on the environmental consequences of ‘business and usual,’ and was streamed on J-Wave Radio and WFUV.