Event Detail

The development of études is rooted in a long-standing culture of structured practice aimed at enhancing technical proficiency in pedagogy. Étude, originating from the Latin form of “study”, “studium” (n. = eagerness, dedication) and “studere” (v. = to be diligent), suggests that the learner possesses a strong desire and commitment to diligent practice. It can also imply that any composition intended to foster and nurture a musician's drive for diligent practice could be categorized as an étude.

In earlier pedagogical models, études were typically composed by performer-pedagogues with intimate knowledge of their instruments, while contemporary practices often introduced a greater divide between the composer, who creates, and the performer, who interprets. This lecture recital introduces the Composer-Performer-Pedagogue praxis as an integrative and reciprocal creative framework in which composition, performance, and pedagogy inform and reshape one another. This framework is explicitly depicted as a praxis, rather than simply a methodology or philosophy, as “praxis” here can be understood as the synthesis of theory and action through cycles of reflection. When the praxis is active and cyclical, with each action feeding a reflection and each reflection feeding a future iteration of action, learners are encouraged to apply the core skills of composing, performing, and teaching in their growth as musicians.

To put this framework into practice over the past two years, I have been composing violin études to support young musicians in developing fingerboard fluency and aural awareness, and exploring the genre's potential. My realization is that effective contemporary étude writing still demands a thorough understanding of the instrument’s idiomatic potentials. I then began incorporating these original études into my teaching practice and examined how composing and practicing études within the Composer-Performer-Pedagogue praxis fosters reflective and self-regulated learning, enhances embodied musicianship, and promotes technical agency.

The selected original études for solo violin featured in the first half of this recital are categorized into three groups: (i) “Intonation and Pitch Perception”, in which the main technical goals emphasize on thinking intonation based on local pitch relationships and broader harmonic contexts, prioritizing aural observation and advocating the “intellect of the ear”; (ii) “Violin-Specific Techniques”, exploring instrument-specific idiomatic challenges as the primary compositional parameter; e.g. natural harmonics; (iii) “Repertoire-Based Études”, reimagining materials from familiar repertoire as sites of technical inquiry.

In the second half of the recital, I will be presenting collaborative études adapted from the solo violin études with my colleagues at UCSD. We will explore how the principles of étude composition for solo instruments and pedagogical considerations can be extended into ensemble contexts and collaborative possibilities.

By composing études through the lens of the Composer-Performer-Pedagogue praxis, I seek not only to foster independent and inquisitive musical thinkers but also to propose the étude as an evolving genre in composition, performance, and pedagogy. The lecture recital concludes by re-examining what constitutes an étude and whether the étude genre can move beyond its initial function as a purely technical study.