St. Louis String Collective

WE BELIEVE:

- High quality, diverse music education should be available to people of all ages, abilities and incomes

- Supporting the arts is essential to the health and well-being of our community

- Teachers and performers should be paid fairly to promote quality education and a thriving arts community

- Mastering techniques and styles outside of the traditional classical pedagogy, such as developing improvisational skills and learning by ear develops well-rounded musicianship

- Learning a variety of musical styles and traditions cultivates compassion and curiosity

ABOUT US:

Founded in 2019, the St. Louis String Collective promotes creative, multi-genre string playing through education and community events. We provide opportunities to develop musicianship among students and professional string players, bridging the gap between Western European classical music and the culturally rich world of string music beyond.

The St. Louis String Collective is led by Alyssa Avery, Ranya Iqbal, and Sarah Vie, musicians and teachers with a passion for making string music accessible to everyone. Raised in the classical music tradition, each of us was introduced to a different way of playing music at some point in our formative years. For Alyssa, a middle school orchestra teacher taught her to improvise music on violin, a wild concept for a classical music student! Improvisation is an expression lost in the classical music of Western Europe, but essential to the fabric of other important music styles like jazz, blues, klezmer, bluegrass, and Celtic folk music. Because of this broad musical training, many doors were open to Alyssa as she started building her music career in St. Louis.

The St. Louis String Collective asks the question, "how can classical string instruments function in a broader musical context?" There are examples of these instruments (violin, viola, cello, and double bass) in many different genres throughout history, and the versatility of these instruments only grows with time and technology.

Students and professionals alike seek out alternative styles of playing because they are innately creative and more accepting of different skill sets and abilities than the strict classical training more commonly offered to students.

Competition in the classical music world is often stiff and uncompromising, but in multi-genre string playing, participants work together to create something that reflects themselves and their community. This collaborative style of playing can buoy the entire St. Louis music community.

As teachers, we encourage musicians to pursue music that means something to them, to develop their craft and to stay involved in the arts for the rest of their lives. By exposing string players to a range of possibilities, they will explore the music of different cultures and become better global citizens. We want musicians to become stewards of their community and cultural heritage in their connection with music and the arts.

In our short time of existence, the St. Louis String Collective has created a local presence of alternative string instruction.

We collaborate with area string musicians who carry traditions such as Irish, Ozark and Missouri fiddling, blues and jazz, and explore newer genres like electronic and experimental music.

There are many things we have been able to accomplish in our few years of existence with this influential community of artists.

We host free fiddle jams twice a month for students and professionals. The goal of these jams is to approach multi-genre playing and contemporary techniques in a relaxed environment.

We present tune classes led by local non-classical professionals in varying styles and traditions.

We offer monthly open-mic style performance opportunities for anyone who wants to perform in a relaxed and supportive environment.

Our first year, we created a summer camp, in collaboration with Summer at SLU, where students of all ages can enjoy access to high-quality instruction at an affordable price. We are able to pay our teachers, who are all highly-regarded local musicians, a competitive wage.