Nilli Tayidi

I am a B.M. Viola Performance student at the Cleveland Institute of Music, studying with Jeffrey Irvine. I have been playing for 12 years, studying with Carolyn Quinn and Marna Street (Principal Viola Emeritus of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra) while in Cincinnati. My summer experiences include attending the Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, the Meadowmount School of Music, the Interlochen Viola Institute, and more. In high school, I played in the Cincinnati Symphony Youth Orchestras (Philharmonic) and played as Assistant Principal Viola in the 2019-2020 season and Principal Viola in the 2021-2022 season.

My main goal is to teach how the student can learn and to teach a holistic approach to playing. I believe in the importance of building technique through scales and etudes and secondarily through solo pieces. However, joy is a key component to instrumental playing, so I am flexible to the student's needs and preferences. Music theory is also an important part of anything classical music related, so there will be a theory aspect as well.