Education

Woodwind Teaching

Nadia is extremely passionate about music teaching and education work. For the past 12 years, in addition to her performing career, she has worked as a woodwind and piano teacher in both state and private schools and colleges in Lancashire, Greater London and Surrey. She currently teaches at Whitgift, Old Palace and St. John’s C of E Primary Schools in Croydon and has experience of taking many students of all ages and backgrounds through examinations, and preparing them for concerts and scholarship / youth orchestra auditions and diplomas over the years.

“Nadia was recommended to me by my old clarinet teacher and I have thoroughly enjoyed learning with her. My A’ level performance was to take place in December contributing to my final A level mark and Nadia helped me to achieve full marks in the performance with her help and guidance. What I really enjoyed with Nadia was that she helped me with specific techniques and how to get the best sound for certain styles of playing, and she also really helped me with my staccato, which is something I’ve struggled with over the years. Overall, she has given me a different outlook on the clarinet, focusing me on different techniques whilst expanding my repertoire by playing pieces that will really help me for university, I would definitely recommend her as a teacher!” (Molly Harris – September 2014)


Examining

Nadia is a qualified music examiner for Trinity College, London, with experience of conducting both face to face and digital examinations in all instruments.


Outreach Work in schools

Nadia is experienced at leading and participating in school education workshops, both independently and with her wind ensemble, the London Myriad Ensemble.’ (www.londonmyriad.com)

        


International Music Outreach Work

In 2012 and 2013, Nadia was luckily and privileged to work as clarinet and saxophone tutor for the Kenya National Youth Orchestra, playing, teaching, leading workshops and taking chamber music rehearsals. The orchestra is the first of its kind in Kenya, and started with no french horns, oboes, bassoons or tubas. (They have all of these now!) In a country where music teachers, and instruments are scarce, they were reliant initially on international tutors to support and work with them, advising the older students (many of whom were music teachers in their areas) on teaching and increasing their expertise in order that they may succeed in making music education in Kenya more self-sufficient.

  

Nadia was so moved by the hard work, dedication and commitment of these young musicians, that she was inspired to do some fundraising, including a day walking around Battersea Park playing her clarinet! Nadia managed to raise almost £1000 for the orchestra and subsequently went on, along with friend and colleague Abigail Burrows, and with the support of the Concordia Foundation, to co-ordinate the project, ‘Music for Life’ to help support music education for the children of St. John’s School, in the slum area of Korogocho, and to continue to help the orchestra by spreading the word for donations of the rarer instruments such as oboe and french horn for the youth orchestra, and organising skype lessons for the young musicians who would be teaching them. The project enabled fife clubs to be set up at St. John’s School for a whole year group of children, as starter instrumental lessons, as well as music theory classes. A penpal scheme was also set up between the children of St. John’s and two London Schools, St. Paul’s and Clement Danes Schools.

         


South East Clarinet Day

In 2011, Nadia developed and ran the first ‘South East London Clarinet Day,’ which combined coaching, a masterclass and performance with clarinettist, Tim Lines, and larger ensemble coaching, supported by TW Howarth of London and the Purcell School.

“The South East Clarinet Day was an amazing day packed with many opportunities. We learnt new pieces and we even had the chance to perform in a masterclass with Timothy Lines himself! Even though the day was jam packed with loads of playing, it was so much fun and by the end I didn’t want to go home yet! I was surprised with how much I learnt in one day and I returned home with my mind buzzing with what to do with reeds, the names of pieces we played and the advice given from the masterclass and from the tutors.” (Emma, 2011)


Chamber Music Coaching

Nadia regularly coaches student and amateur musicians in wind chamber music, in preparation for concerts or to help with general ensemble techniques. With her ensemble, the London Myriad Ensemble, she coaches on the ‘Wind Ensembles with the London Myriads’ course three times a year at Benslow Music Trust. www.benslowmusic.org

“Over a period of four years we have, as a complete group, attended three 3-day tutoring sessions with the Myriad Ensemble at Benslow Music Trust and because we are mainly clarinettists Nadia spent much time with us all. We benefitted greatly from her teaching, both with the technicalities of the instrument and in all aspects of musicianship, and I can say without any hesitation that my own playing improved enormously! I now play with much more authority and a better understanding of how to get the best from my clarinet. Her teaching style is friendly and she has great empathy for the student, whatever their level – and our group has varying levels of competence! Her own musicianship is, of course, second-to-none and she was able to move with such amazing ease between the different pieces we were playing – from Bach and Mozart, to jazz and ragtime and contemporary folk tunes, and much more, playing sections that demonstrated her complete understanding of each genre. We hope to be able to have more tutoring from her in the near future. ” (Jennie, 2015)


Monkey Music

Nadia also has experience of teaching music classes for babies and toddlers as a ‘Monkey Music’ teacher between 2011 and 2014. www.monkeymusic.co.uk This involved taking classes for babies and toddlers aged 3 months to 3 years old, combining music, singing, actions, sounds and dance to help with the baby’s musical, behavioural and general development.