Suzuki and Traditional Violin Lessons with Tekla Cunningham

Tekla Cunningham, modern violin, baroque violin, viola and viola d’amore, received her musical training at Johns Hopkins University and Peabody Conservatory (where she studied History and German Literature in addition to violin), Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria, and at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where she completed a Master’s degree with Ian Swenson. She freelanced in Northern California and further afield with Apollo’s Fire, Los Angeles Opera, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Carmel Bach Festival and San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival. She has appeared as concertmaster or soloist with American Bach Soloists, Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, and Musica Angelica (Los Angeles).

An avid chamber musician, Tekla enjoys exploring the string quartet repertoire of the 18th and early 19th century with the period-instrument Novello Quartet, with a special interest in the music of Haydn. She is also a member of La Monica, an ensemble dedicated to music of the 17th century, whose concerts have been reviewed as “sizzling”, and praised for their “irrepressible energy and pitch-perfect timing”.

She can be heard on recordings with the American Bach Soloists, Apollo’s Fire, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Tafelmusik, San Francisco Bach Choir, various movie soundtracks including Disney’s Casanova, as well as on La Monica’s recent release The Amorous Lyre, a recording of repertoire of Merula and his contemporaries. Recent recordings include Wayne Horvitz’s new chamber opera Heartsong of Charging Elk, and the soundtrack of Valve Software’s upcoming video game Left 4 Dead.

Since moving back home to Seattle in 2006, she founded the Whidbey Island Music Festival, a summer concert series presenting period-instrument performances of repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to Beethoven. In Seattle, she plays with Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Gallery Concerts and the Northwest Sinfonietta, and recently coached and led the UW Orchestra in performances of Monteverdi Vespers. She is also pursuing Suzuki teacher training, and recently completed Book II training with Cathy Lee in San Francisco. When not playing the violin, Tekla enjoys gardening and exploring printing techniques of the past, including letterpress and intaglio printing.

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