ABOUT SHIRLEY GIVENS . . .
Most recently Shirley Givens was presented the Presidential Scholar Teacher Recognition
Award by U.S. Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings, in ceremonies at the Kennedy
Center in Wahington, D.C. Internationally recognized as an artist-teacher, Shirley
Givens is currently Professor of Violin at the Peabody Conservatory and on the Juilliard
School and Mannes College faculties. (Her full biography can be found on the Givens
Method website on advanced violin teaching.- now in preparation.)
Passionate about the careful nurturing of violinist-musicians, Shirley Givens has
never lost her dedication to the vitally important area of beginning teaching, which
remains close to her heart. A growing number of fine young violinists have benefited
from her joyfully unique method. There was a time when a veritable "Who's Who"
of parents prominent in the arts brought their children to study with her, violinists
Pinchas Zukerman, Itzhak Perlman and Robert Mann, pianists Claude Frank, Lillian
Kallir, Rudolf Firkusny and Jerome Lowenthal, the artist Peter Max, the actors Jerry
Stiller, Anne Meara, Paul Sparer and Nancy Marchand, soprano Phyllis Curtin, conductor
Herbert Blomsted, impressario Art D'Lugoff and many others. The internationally renowned
concert artist Pamela Frank began her studies with the Givens Method, enjoying the
Adventures in Violinland books. She continued with Ms Givens for 11 years, reaching
the major repertoire such as the Tchaikovsky Concerto.
Try to experience the adventure of learning this marvelous instrument through the
eager eyes of the young child, and you will have captured the essence of what these
books are about.. |
![Violinist Shirley Givens](images/biophoto.jpg) |