Kendra Grittani is an experienced cellist, having started playing at only four years old. Kendra has completed her Masters in cello performance at McGill University with accomplished symphonic and chamber musician, and cello professor, Elizabeth Dolin.
Kendra has performed with various orchestras including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the McGill Symphony Orchestra, the McGill Opera Orchestra, the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, the Thunderbay Symphony Orchestra, and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.
Recently, after forming the piano trio, Trio Meira, the chamber group swept the McGill Chamber Music Competition 2018, being awarded 1st prize. Along with a debut performance in Montreal, Trio Meira was awarded a week long residency at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.
Kendra has also had the privilege to perform alongside accomplished professionals such as Axel Strauss, Stephane Lemelin, Elizabeth Dolin, Ariel Barnes, Riko Higuma and many more. Kendra is currently a substitute musician with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra cello section, the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony cello section, and the Thunderbay Symphony Orchestra cello section. Kendra is working as a freelance cellist, chamber musician and as a private teacher in Toronto.
Get to know Kendra…Beyond the Bio!
Hobbies: Aerial Acrobatics, animal care.
Musical influences: Johannes Moser and Santiago Cañon-Valencia
Favourite food: Sushi
Least favourite food: onion
Favourite music: Esperanza Spalding and Ariana Grande
Favourite song: Midnight in Harlem – Tadeschi Trucks Band
Favourite musical theatre/opera: Hamilton
Favourite book: The Book Thief
Best thing about teaching at ABC: Exchanging teaching techniques with other excellent teachers
Latest Homework from KENDRA
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Matthew October 3rd
G minor harmonic
- extension with 1st finger, not 2nd
- when extending, try not to push your elbow forward
- look in mirror, make sure shoulders are squarred
G minor melodic
- ascending: lowered third, normal 6 and 7
- descending: lowered 3 6 and 7
G minor Arppeggio
- try not to flatten fingers out when extending
Lee 1
- no fishing with the bow on the A string
- opening elbow hinge as you move to the A (bow)
- practice with G and C drone
- think of string crossings as continuous motion
- make sure quarter notes aren’t too long
- goal tempo is 60 for the quarter note
Lee 2
- pluck first
- try not to collapse the 4th finger
- think about left arm height on varrying string
- C drone
Ballad
- try not to push elbow forward when extending
- D in extended 2nd position, A string, needs to be higher
- level out shoulders, don’t push left wrist down
- goal tempo = 70
- add dynamics
Hunter’s Chorus
- increase tempo
- G drone with slow practice
- practice in front of a mirror: to watch shoulders and straight bow
- goal tempo is 90 for the quarter note
- sixteenth notes with string crossings: move arm up and down less, use less bow, watch bow angle
Preferred Books for Kendra’s Students
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Suzuki Cello School
Teach cello with the popular Suzuki Cello School. The Suzuki Method(R) of Talent Education is based on Shinichi Suzuki’s view that every child is born with ability, and that people are the product of their environment. According to Shinichi Suzuki, a world-renowned violinist and teacher, the greatest joy an adult can know comes from developing a child’s potential so he/she can express all that is harmonious and best in human beings. Students are taught using the “mother-tongue” approach.
Suzuki Cello School
Teach cello with the popular Suzuki Cello School. The Suzuki Method(R) of Talent Education is based on Shinichi Suzuki’s view that every child is born with ability, and that people are the product of their environment. According to Shinichi Suzuki, a world-renowned violinist and teacher, the greatest joy an adult can know comes from developing a child’s potential so he/she can express all that is harmonious and best in human beings. Students are taught using the “mother-tongue” approach.
Suzuki Cello School
Teach cello with the popular Suzuki Cello School. The Suzuki Method(R) of Talent Education is based on Shinichi Suzuki’s view that every child is born with ability, and that people are the product of their environment. According to Shinichi Suzuki, a world-renowned violinist and teacher, the greatest joy an adult can know comes from developing a child’s potential so he/she can express all that is harmonious and best in human beings. Students are taught using the “mother-tongue” approach.
I Can Read Music
These easy-to-read, progressive exercises by Joanne Martin develop a student’s reading skills one stage at a time, with many repetitions at each stage. I Can Read Music is designed as a first note-reading book for students of string instruments who have learned to play using an aural approach such as the Suzuki Method(R), or for traditionally taught students who need extra note reading practice. Its presentation of new ideas is clear enough that it can be used daily at home by quite young children and their parents, with the teacher checking progress every week or two.
Position Pieces for Cello
Position Pieces for Cello is designed to give students a logical and fun way to learn their way around the fingerboard. Each hand position is introduced with exercises called “Target Practice,” “Geography Quiz,” and “Names and Numbers.” Following these exercises are tuneful cello duets that have been specifically composed to require students to play in that hand position. In this way, students gain a thorough knowledge of how to find the hand positions, and once there, which notes are possible to play.
