The Britten Theatre at London's Royal College of Music was packed with students, teachers and music fans eager to learn from maestro Pinchas Zukerman'smasterclass. Three young violinists had been selected to perform; Chieri Tomi from the Royal Academy of Music and Soh Yon Kim and Emily Sun from the Royal College of Music.
Although each of the musicians was clearly nervous, Zukerman did his best to make them feel comfortable by giving words of encouragement and making jokes like "The bow is your bank account."
For Zukerman playing an instrument well comes down to the fundamentals of producing a good sound. "Curl your finger and bend your thumb" he repeats and both the student on stage as well as many audience members mimic the positioning of Zukerman's hand. For those in the audience it has become clear that there are no shortcuts to producing great music. And there is no escape from playing scales either; Zukerman plays them every morning.
