The Community-Centered Violist

The Community-Centered Violist highlights the collaboration of Kimia Hesabi and Tiffany Richardson as violists, teaching artists, and arts administrators. The session showcases our community-centered work in various settings and offers resources to violists who have a passion for creating unique programs that meet the needs of their community. In this workshop, participants will learn about the use of folk music and storytelling as a tool to foster trust, mutual understanding, celebration of identities and cultures, and teaching resources. We will highlight various folk songs from Iran and Afghanistan and perform our arrangement of these works for viola duets (or small viola ensembles). Through this workshop, we aim to introduce violists at various stages of their journey to community-centered possibilities within our field involving creative collaborations in their career and educational path. The workshop concludes with an interactive viola ensemble piece that provides the attendees with a tangible experience centering creative expression as a tool for music education.