The Longy School of Music of Bard College

Date: Dec 31 1969
Major: Music - Performance (This Major's Salary over time)
Harp faculty Franziska Huhn is an amazing teacher and mentor and is an incredible asset to the Longy School of Music of Bard College where I studied with her in the process of getting my master?s degree. During the course of my private studio instruction she has helped me to grow both technically and artistically. As a pedagogue, she?s able to support my musical interests while encouraging me to continue exploring new avenues of harp repertoire and technique. Franziska has also helped me enormously in injury-prevention and in my own technical thinking by giving me tools and problem-solving techniques for exploring pain and tension in my playing and then taking steps to remove that tension so that I?ll be able to enjoy a long and healthy life as a harpist.

When I first began studying with Franziska I was on the verge of developing tendonitis and had extreme pain even after playing for 10 minutes and she has coached and guided me to the point where I could present and hour-long recital with strength, confidence and very little tension or pain. I feel incredibly lucky to have found her and had the privilege of working with her.

As an artist Franziska embodies true musicianship in her own thinking and music and in her performances. She encourages her students to really climb inside the pieces they are studying - analyze the harmony, solfege and sing the melodies, explore parts of the piece one day as technical etudes and the next day as opera arias. She has taught me how to turn my daily practice into much more than the preparation of each individual piece - rather, the time I spend behind the harp has become part of my daily growth and experience of being an artist.

Franziska?s attention to musical detail is absolutely stunning. One of her favorite teaching stories is to tell about the Emerson Quartet onstage performing a Beethoven quartet when suddenly the violist realizes he can?t remember his solo which is coming up in the music (the Quartet is playing from memory). As the music approaches the moment when the solo happens and the violist is getting more and more nervous, he suddenly hears the cello enter playing his solo and is able to recover and finish the performance. Afterwards he asked the cellist how he knew that he?d forgotten the solo and the cellist responded, ?Your finger was in the wrong place.? As a chamber coach and performer, and as a studio teacher, Franziska brings this level of musical passion to everything she does. She is clearly a born teacher - someone who loves supporting, encouraging and problem-solving in tandem with the student.

Educator Grant Wiggins writes that ?great teachers get more from us than we thought possible to give.? Franziska sees what isn?t yet there in a way that only a special kind of teacher can. I had never dreamed of being able to continue my harp studies in a conservatory setting, and hadn?t even realized that harp performance was what I really wanted to do with my life, but Franziska saw something in me and helped me grow into the harpist that I have become today. Her mentorship and support go far beyond the hour she spends in harp lessons with her students - she sees each student as an individual and tailors her approach as a teacher to ensure that each student finds what they need from their harp studies, be it a career, a hobby, a second career, a respite from other stresses or an outlet for emotional stress. Franziska is an amazing artist and incredible teacher and working with her is a wonderful experience.