Bringing science to peak performance
As a former cellist with Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw Orchestra turned neuroscientist, I research and teach innovations from science to help people achieve peak performance
with Yuncong Zhang, violinist Boston Symphony Orchestra
Recorded live in Symphony Hall, Boston – 2022
Cellist
Born and raised in California, I received a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature at Harvard University and studied cello at the Juilliard School and conservatories across Europe. For decades, I performed on stages around the world, soloing with orchestras such as the San Francisco Symphony and the Boston Pops Orchestra.
From 2010-2020, I was a member of the renowned Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. I was awarded the Concertgebouw Orchestra’s Prix de Salon in 2016, with my prizewinning CD Origins released by Etcetera Records in the fall of 2019.
Scientist
My career in research arose from the discovery of a surprising method to help my own performance. I had spent decades searching for a solution to my own impaired hand function, stemming from childhood spinal cord injury. Dispokinesis addressed musicians’ performance through a novel approach: instead of focusing on muscular output, it concentrated on sensory information received through touch. This focus on touch had a pronounced effect on my playing: my movement felt lighter, less strained, more precise and easy.
It became my passion to understand the physical mechanisms of this relationship between touch and movement. In 2020, I left my job with the Concertgebouw Orchestra to start a research PhD at University of Toronto’s Faculty of Kinesiology. My PhD studies on the role of touch in expert musicians’ performance have shed fascinating new light on how expert musicians achieve and maintain skilled performance. Stay tuned for announcements on upcoming publications!
Teacher
After completing my Dispokinesis teacher’s training from Germany’s Gesellschaft für Dispokinesis nach GO van de Klashorst, I started teaching Concertgebouw Orchestra colleagues and visiting guest artists, including the eminent conductor, Myung-whun Chung, who recorded a video statement expressing gratitude after a training session helped him conduct four concerts without pain.
At the University of Toronto, I developed a Dispokinesis class in the Faculty of Music, to date teaching 75 Bachelor’s and Advanced Certificate students drawn from every instrument group: strings, brass, woodwind, piano, voice, percussion, harp. No matter the instrument, I saw time and again that connecting to the body’s sensory system unlocked performance. The classes brought regular celebrations: when chronic tension finally released, arm braces could be discarded, formerly “impossible” passages performed with ease, auditions and competitions won.
To share this knowledge with wider circles and future generations, I regularly present my work at international scientific and medical conferences, and mentor student presentations at performance and pedagogy conferences. I have further established a continuing education pipeline through the University of Toronto Piano Pedagogy program, supervising students in one-on-one teaching and workshop creation for fellow students and the broader musical community.
Vision
My work as researcher and teacher has a common goal: to transform musical training from the current top-down, tradition-based approach, to one empowering each performer with effective, evidence-based tools for achieving peak performance.