Pictures from an Exhibit Hall - ASTA/SAA Conference 2024

By Laurie Niles: Last week in Louisville, Kentucky, some 3,500 educators, exhibitors, performers, and supporters came together to listen to performances, attend workshops, learn about new music and products and generally celebrate music education together. Part of that experience involved an Exhibit Hall with 97 exhibitors, including string companies; sheet music publishers; instrument dealers; makers of practice gadgets; representatives from university, summer and online music programs; and more. I did not begin to get around to every booth, but I'd thought I'd give you a small sampling from those I did happen to visit! Of course, I also went to a lot of teaching workshops over my three days in Kentucky, including a master class by Sirena Huang, winner of the last Indianapolis Compeition. There were also a good number of sessions by Violinist.com members whose names you've seen in articles (and as posters and authors!), including a session by Christine Goodner on helping parents practice; one by frequent Violinist.com contributor Claire Allen about creating a diverse repertoire sequence for students. A session by Carrie Salisbury and Michael McLean focused on "Creative Music Literacy", and one by Elise Winters shared exercises to help beginners learn the unusual physical motions required to play. There were plenty more, so please check back over the next month for in-depth stories on those. Back to the Exhibit Hall! Right away I ran into this familiar and welcome face, violinist Rachel Barton Pine! Rachel was there with her daughter, Sylvia, who was giving several improv performances, and Rachel also was also promoting the Music by Black Composers series Volumes 2 and 3, which just came out earlier this year. (Here is the interview we did with Rachel about that). Next I found jazz violinist and Creative Strings founder Christian Howes: Christian was sharing information about his spring events and summer retreats and cool play-alongs, among other things! Across the way was San Francisco-based Jeremy Cohen - I can always count on him for a spontaneous concert:

@violinistlaurie Jeremy Cohen spontaneously plays a tango from his book of Stylistic Duets for 2 #violin s - from the Exhibit Hall floor at #astaconference2024#saaconference2024? original sound - Violinist.com

Jeremy was at a booth with his Stylistic Duets for Two Violins, among other works, and sitting next to him was Matt Pickart, with information about Clazz International Music Festival, a music festival "at the intersection of classical and jazz idioms" which takes place in Tuscany in July. At the Baroque Violin Shop booth I found Chicago-area violinist and educator Daryl Silberman, who was singing the praises of their five-string acoustic violins, which are violin-sized but have the additional C string.

Violinist Daryl Silberman, with a five-string violin from the Baroque Violin Shop.

Her commitment to the five-string runs so deep, she even has a five-string fiddle tattoo! The Baroque Violin Shop is based in Cincinnati, Ohio and has just opened a new location in Louisville, Ky. There were also string companies, including Connolly Music Company - promoting the new Dynamo Strings for violin and viola and Rondo Golds, and Larsen Strings/Glasser Bows, which was giving out sets of Larsen's Aurora strings for violin and cello. It's always great to see Ruth Brons from Things 4 Strings, which is celebrating its 15th year in business.

Ruth Brons of Things 4 Strings.

So many of my students have used Bow Hold Buddies to help them form their bow holds! I also dropped by the Shar Music booth, where they were giving out the little stuffed animal versions Pokko - their new cartoon character friend who is "just starting out on violin" and sharing the advice he learns about basics like storing the bow, fastening the violin case, putting on a shoulder rest, etc.

Shar's Director of Sales Jennie Lewis and CEO Tina Avsharian with Laurie Niles.

We did a little interview about my books, Violinist.com Interviews Volumes 1 and 2, which are now available through Shar. (Yay!) I'll post the interview here when it comes out. So those are just a tiny fraction of what I saw there - there were about 90 more booths to see! Check back for coming stories on the workshops that I attended at the ASTA/SAA Conference 2024! You might also like:

• Vijay Gupta at ASTA/SAA 2024: Music as a Place of Possibility
• Joint ASTA and SAA Conference Begins Today in Louisville
• Past and Present ASTA Conference Coverage

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