Violin with Julia Choi - MET Opera

I am an adult beginner, and Julia is everything I hoped for in a violin teacher! I have been studying with her for a little over 6 months now. -She has high standards for all students, even if you are an adult beginner ( yes, I want my teacher to be as strict to me as she is to her 8-year-olds). I really love that she takes my learning violin as an adult very seriously. And learning the violin you really want to be serious and "picky". I love her detailed comments on my playing as it helps me also look for the same things during my regular practices. -She tailors lessons to your needs. If I am struggling with particular string crossings, she will ask me to play a specific exercise that addresses that. And her feedback/suggestions for fixing a habit is very structured, so you know what to do when you come across a similar struggle again. Like playing the part with different speed, different rhythm and slowly overcome your problem step by step. -She balances her class well with etudes and repertoire. As I said, I am serious about this hobby and love classical music. I prefer not to rush and build techniques the right way. She gives me technical exercises every class along with standard repertoires. We've been working through exercises in Wolhfhart and Shradieck, and those are really difficult etudes (for me), but I really have seen huge improvement in bow control and speed after practicing them. If you ever wonder about picking up the violin or another instrument, do it now! Why not? I am so glad I did, and Julia really helped me improve quickly. She is kind, extremely talented and knowledgeable! Good luck and be sure to practice 40 hours a day! :)

As an adult student, I decided to pick up violin in my mid 30's juggling among work, life and other things. Julia is such a wonderful teacher and always give me enough to practice while not too much to make practicing another source of stress. We have our sessions via Zoom instead of in-person and I think it works very well so far. She is also very responsive during the week when I send audio recording of my practice or send questions. Super friendly so would be great if a little kid wants to learn from her. I would not hesitate to recommend Julia to anyone, any age or years of experience who wants to learn violin!

Julia is a fantastic teacher. As an adult picking up violin for the first time, I never expected to make much progress, let alone as fast as I have with Julia. She is kind and patient, while always instilling proper technique and fundamentals to very high standards. With her, I am learning not only to play notes, but to perform those notes beautifully and to truly understand the music. She is extremely dedicated to her students, no matter the age or level, and her dedication, in turn, helps me stay motivated and makes me want to try harder. Teachers like her are hard to find - I can't recommend her highly enough!

Julia played the violin at my daughter’s wedding and my son’s wedding. She performed magnificently at both weddings. Her performance enhanced the enjoyment of both events. In addition, she was punctual, pleasant and responsive. Her music was a pleasure to listen to and she was a delight to work with. I recommend her highly and without reservation.

I took private violin classes with Julia for approximately two years. For adult violin students, motivation to practice and overcome obstacles is extremely important. Julia kept me motivated the entire time. With her, I learned to love violin music even more, listen to it in ways I had not discovered, and realize that no matter how fast or slow I went, learning the violin is all about the journey.