Blacksburg, Virginia cello lessons
With cello lessons in Blacksburg, Virginia, Community Cello Works brings music of all styles into the lives of families and the larger community, combining distinguished pedagogy with fun social music-making.
Lisa Liske-Doorandish is a registered Suzuki teacher with more than twenty years of experience… She holds a Master of Music degree in cello performance from the San Francisco Conservatory and performs regularly in a wide variety of settings and styles. She offers cello lessons for children (ideal starting age 3-6) in Blacksburg, VA, in neighboring Giles County, at Hollins University near Roanoke, and online. Her studio ranges in age from three through adult. Former students have gone on study cello at the university level at Oberlin, Peabody, Northwestern University, University of Miami, and the University of Colorado at Boulder, London’s Royal College of Music, and other schools, and to play professionally; others have taken the cello into their lives as dedicated amateurs. Lisa enjoys teaching all ages, and places equal value upon her work with those who become motivated to prepare to enter the music profession and those for whom the cello exists to enhance other vocational and life undertakings. Within the CCW studio, students of different aspirations make music together and learn from each other as well as from their teacher.
The opportunity to interact with beauty each day changes lives for the better. This is the core of my teaching and performance focus. CCW is set up to provide an excellent technical and musical foundation that can prepare a young cellist for a career in music, or simply offer the lifelong satisfaction of musicianship for non-professionals. I teach many adult amateurs, and enjoy watching them gain musical satisfaction. Interwoven in my teaching is a conviction that we are all better people, more connected to each other and the life force that is our source of well-being, through making music; it is an essential part of our humanity. And of course, the cello is among the most magnificent of instruments! I am privileged to be one of its ambassadors.
Highlights of the Community Cello Works Year
• A learning-community environment rich in support from peers, student families, and adult learners
• Group/ensemble classes in addition to individual lessons, to develop musicianship skills for all, and social skills for kids
• Suzuki Book Graduation Recitals to celebrate achievement • Blue Ridge Cello Ensemble, a performing group • Monthly performance classes with piano accompaniment, helping to develop comfort and experience in the performance setting, and offering a rich opportunity to hear the cello repertoire • Two studio recitals, one each semester • Family Music and Movement Class, offering traditional and new songs to enrich family life, as well as movement, rhythm, and pitch development through songs and games • Musical Parenting class, to help parents of new music students • CelloFest, an annual concert of cello works celebrating national styles of composition, historical periods, and particularly interesting pockets of music for the cello
• Annual Friends and Family Concert, where CCW students perform anything they’d like with friends or family members of their choice
• Blue Ridge Suzuki Camp at Orkney Springs in June
• Parenting and practice discussion groups
• Annual 100-Day Practice Challenge
• Community Service Month, when CCW students go to play for people and organizations in the community to spread the joy of live music
• Weekend workshops with guest master teachers once or twice yearly
• How To Fly Your Cello, an online technique, warm-ups, and inspiration class
• Occasional studio trips to concerts or workshops in other areas
Lisa Liske 