Teaching

Laena Batchelder is a violin and viola teacher in the Boulder/Denver metro area. She teaches students of any level and all ages privately at primarily her home in Broomfield (online lessons or traveling to students' houses in the area may also be available). She graduated with a Master of Music degree in Violin Performance at the University of Colorado Boulder. She has experience with orchestral and solo performing, but she loves chamber music and teaching most. Both of these pursuits highlight the collaborative aspect of music-making which she hopes her students will grow to love as much as she does.

Laena believes classical music should break out of constraining traditions and canons, so she teaches using concepts from many methods and styles. For beginning and intermediate students, she primarily assigns Suzuki repertoire but supplements with Music by Black Composers by Rachel Barton Pine, Violin Music by Women by Cora Cooper, the Barbara Barber method books, popular music she arranges, and other pedagogical materials. She guides advanced students to choose repertoire both within and outside of the traditional classical canon.

Laena is trained in the Suzuki Method through Book 4. While she draws on many methods and her own experience in her teaching, many foundations of the Suzuki Method are important to her. Some of these include strong parental involvement, creating a positive home learning environment, emphasis on listening, often learning pieces by ear, and use of repetition and review.

Suzuki Association of the Americas Profile

Group Class

Laena offers group classes to students in her teaching studio during the semester. Class activities include playing pieces together, playing games, performing current solo works for each other, short music theory lessons, listening, and more.

Rates per week
30 minutes - $37.50
45 minutes - $56.25
60 minutes - $75.00

Laena has taught private violin and viola lessons in a variety of settings from a public middle school to various community music programs in both the Dallas/Fort Worth and Boulder metro areas. Her students have performed in recitals, won awards at Solo and Ensemble competitions, and participated in local youth ensembles. Multiple students have earned leadership positions in their school orchestras and honors orchestras. Laena's teaching draws on her Suzuki background as well as a variety of other methods and philosophies, emphasizing the joy of music.

Student testimonials

Laena is a talented violinist and an awesome educator. She started teaching the viola to my son six months after he had joined the middle school orchestra. He started learning the instrument mostly through online school and on his own, but after he started taking lessons with Laena his progress has been amazing. It is amazing how good he sounds now! She fixed bad habits he had acquired and taught him more advanced techniques. She instilled in the kid a passion for music that we didn't know he had. He ended up joining the Boulder youth orchestra (GBYO) thanks to her mentoring and coaching during the audition process. And he also became the first violist at his school's orchestra. Laena is a great partner to us parents, always communicating about progress and flexible with scheduling needs. It is a joy working with her. -Lucas Fernandes

Laena is very positive. She finds creative ways to explain technique and style, especially where I really struggle. She is prompt and professional. As an adult learner, I've learned how to practice violin better than when I was a young student taking violin lessons so many years ago. -Cindy A.

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Current Student Resources

Student Opportunities in the Boulder/Denver metro area

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Local and online music retailers/luthiers

Supplies and rentals
sharmusic.com – large online store for string music, supplies, rentals
swstrings.com – online store for supplies, rentals
musicarts.com – large online and chain store for supplies, rentals
solvistaviolins.com – rental shop in Lafayette
hbwoodsongs.com – local music shop in Boulder

Luthiers for professional instruments, repairs, and bow rehairs
eduardmillerviolins.com – excellent luthier very nearby in Broomfield
ormanbows.com – bow maker and rehairs in Denver
schererviolins.com – luthier and rehairs in Louisville
robertsonviolins.com – large violin shop (rentals and purchase) in Albuquerque, NM

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