Welcome to Fiddlin' Around with Florie!
I am a professional certified Suziki violin teacher in Davis, California and taking on new enrollments for private lessons in Davis and the greater Sacramento area. Let's make music together!
Welcome to Fiddlin' Around with Florie!
I am a professional certified Suziki violin teacher in Davis, California and taking on new enrollments for private lessons in Davis and the greater Sacramento area. Let's make music together!
I live in Davis, California, and teach violin and fiddle.
I am a Certified Suzuki Teacher (through book 4), and have been teaching students here in Davis since 1998.
I am currently accepting new students aged 4 and up for private lessons. I work with students in Davis and all Sacramento surrounding areas including Natomas, Elk Grove, Arden-Arcade, Rancho Cordova, Citrus Heights, Orangevale, Folsom, Rocklin, Carmichael, Woodland, El Dorado Hills, Yuba City, Vacaville, and Fairfield.
About Florie Brown
My musical journey began with my violin studies when the Suzuki method was just getting a foothold in the U.S., in 1965. My teacher was Jacquelyn Corina, one of the early Suzuki pioneers who studied with Dr. Suzuki in Japan and helped to get his method known and well thought of here in California. It was with her that my bond with the violin began. Mrs. Corina is still a sought-after Teacher Trainer in the Bay Area.
A few years later, my parents learned of an opportunity to study with Romanian-born violinist, Eugene Stoia. Mr. Stoia was conductor of the San Jose Youth Symphony, a group which performed internationally and won many awards. He had an intense love of music and children, had very high standards and challenged his players. It was a fantastic experience to play with such a demanding conductor, traveling and sharing our music with kids from other cultures.
I became increasingly interested in other forms of music, realizing there were only a few violinists playing in rock and folk-rock bands. I started playing Celtic and bluegrass fiddling, as well as country swing, blues, and Cajun fiddling. My first band, Shagbark Hickory, did a bit of all these styles to enthusiastic audiences throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
As the first band was coming to an end, I met up with a trio of east bay musicians who were performing celtic and original music, the Golden Bough. We hit it off and began recording and touring throughout Europe, the UK, Scandinavia, the U.S., and the Caribbean.
As part of Golden Bough, I performed with many artists from other genres: Egyptian percussionist Hossam Ramzy; Italian classical quitarist Flavio Cucchi; Basque conductor and accordion champion Enrique Ugarte; Hungarian cimbalom player Kalman Balogh; and Chilean multi-instrumentalist Pablo Carcamo. This group performed together in England and Germany as the World Music Ensemble in the early 1990s.
I appear on many Golden Bough albums as well as many other albums, compilations and a solo album from ARC Music, including a recording of Mexican folk songs. I appear on recordings by local artists, singer-songwriter Rita Hosking, and Latin/Celtic harp player Christine Bonner.
What My Students Say
Florie was recommended to me as someone who would be good in helping to develop technical skills on the violin. I am currently working through the Suzuki program with Florie as an adult student, and she is an incredibly gifted musician, instructor, and problem solver. I can’t say enough about her skill and support as a teacher, and how much I value the opportunity to work with her!
Susan D.
Sequoia (and I) have only the most glowing things to say about your teaching! In particular, your positivity and unending patience, along with your willingness and capacity to find multiple alternative ways to instruct musical concepts have made us devoted fans. We’re extremely grateful that she has the opportunity to study with you.
Amy B.
Florie has been teaching my daughter improvisation and fiddle for several months. My daughter enjoys her lessons with Florie, and she has appreciated developing her new skills set on the violin. I highly recommend Florie.
Joseph B.
Interested in private lessons? Let's talk!
Florie - Lead
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