Rachael Lonergan

Rachael Lonergan has been teaching cello since 1989.  She was a coach for the Suzuki Music Program of Los Angeles for twelve years, and the cello coach for both the New West Ventura Youth Symphony and the Avanti Chamber Orchestra. She was on the faculty for the Southern California Suzuki Institute in 1996.  Rachael also taught chamber music classes at The National Cello Institute from 2003 through 2019. In 2006 Rachael started the San Fernando Valley Cello Ensemble (SFVCE), which consists of students from her studio. 

​She was coordinator of the Suzuki Cello Graduation for the Suzuki Music Association of California Los Angeles branch from 1996-2017as well as coordinator of the American String Teachers Association Area I and II Competition from 1999-2006. She served on the Los Angeles Cello Society Board of Directors for ten years, was their membership co-chair for four years, and coordinated the annual Student Honor Recital. 

​Rachael has edited three books in collaboration with Last Resort Music, played on several motion pictures, a Gloria Estefan music video (at 2:36 in video) and was featured in an Air Supply video. She was principal cellist of the West Valley Chamber Orchestra for eight years, where she was featured as a soloist performing works such as Dvorak’s Cello Concerto in Bb, Haydn’s C Major Concerto, Saint-Saens Concerto No. 1, Vivaldi’s Double Concerto in g minor, Boccherini’s Concerto in Bb, Faure’s Elegie and Bruch’s Kol Nidrei, among others.    

​Rachael's students have won top awards in competitions such as ASTA, PTA, VOCE, SYMF, LAVS, YAG, and Memorial Awards, among others. Her students participate in chamber music programs at Colburn, and JCM as well as local youth orchestras such as CSUN, Conejo Valley, LAYO, and Colburn. Numerous students have won concerto competitions and have performed solos with various orchestras. 95% of her students are also members of their school orchestra in addition to being members of the SFVCE which performs regularly throughout the year.

​ Students have gone on to pursue a degree in cello performance at Oberlin, Manhattan School of Music, Peabody, UCLA, Gonzaga University, UCSB, Cal State Long Beach, Lawrence University, and Baldwin-Wallace College while others have minored in music at USC and Stanford. She has several former students that are now private teachers as well as performers. 

​Rachael thanks all the teachers who have influenced and shaped her playing and teaching over the years: Gretchen Geber, Rick Mooney, Richard Allen, Peter Rejto, Matt Cooker, John Walz, and Andrew Cook. Without their influence, guidance, and support she knows her life would be very different.  

​Learning to her is a lot like life, and the journey itself is much more important than the end. She is a product of all her teachers, and feels that as she continues to teach, she keeps learning and growing with each student.  It is a never ending process.

Because my students range from age 4 through adult I use a variety of teaching methods and literature. I have started many students in Suzuki Book 1 and taken them through pieces such as Haydn Concerto in D Major, Dvorak Cello Concerto, Elgar Concerto, etc..

Each students lesson is personalized and based on his or her current level on the instrument. I also look for pieces that will stimulate the students interest in the cello, and often ask them to tell me their favorite type of music.  Often I find myself up late at night rewriting  songs for students.  Sometimes we delve into one period of music that the student greatly enjoys.   There are many ways to go about learning to play, do extensions, count, read etc.   Some students use the Suzuki Books while others are on their own unique path. Young students are gently encouraged to learn note reading, while older students are given age appropriate reading books to facilitate reading.

There is no “one size fits all” when it comes to learning music, or teaching cello.  All students have their unique strengths and weaknesses.  I see it as my job to reinforce their strengths, and to help them gradually turn the weaknesses into some of their greatest assets.