Testimonials

‘Violin lessons with Cathy are the highlight of my week, even if I’ve had a tiring day I leave my lessons feeling energised and inspired. I have recently transitioned to online lessons (due to coronavirus) and these are working really well for me, Cathy has a whole range of ideas to get the most out of online teaching too. Although I’m a recent Music BMus graduate, violin is a new instrument for me. I’m an unusual student who can already read music fluently (having played the clarinet from a young age), but my lessons are catered to my individual needs and I always feel a perfect balance between being challenged and the kind gentle approach (which is exactly what I was looking for). Cathy is a fantastic player and a highly experienced teacher with all ages and abilities and I appreciate both her musicianship and her teaching method in every lesson.’
Sophia

“Cathy has been my violin teacher for 7 years. She has taught me throughout the whole of secondary school and A-levels. She has been the most patient, challenging and inspiring teacher I have ever had. I will be forever grateful for the knowledge and experience she has shared with me. She has been teaching me since grade 3 and has helped me progress through every single grade achieving mostly merits and distinctions all the way up to and including grade 8, which I took last year and successfully passed with a Merit. She has also prepared me for the practical part of my music GCSE which I got full marks for and which then contributed to achieving A*. I am now starting at Leeds Conservatoire where I will be studying classical Violin for the next 3 years. Although we did a lot of work on my grades, Cathy also included a lot of other repertoire in our lessons and my favourite thing to play would be duets with her. She has also encouraged and helped me with some of my own compositions and would always share many opportunities with me that she finds for example, Cathy introduced me to Centre for Young Musicians (CYM) which I attended for 6 years and was the best time of my life and my music experience so far. It has provided me with many opportunites such as being a member of the chamber orchestra at CYM, performing at the Barbican with the LSSO and many other performance opportunities. It has been an honour having Cathy as my violin teacher and I cannot express enough how grateful I am.” Kamil

‘Cathy is a fantastic teacher, who uses a wonderfully holistic approach to violin teaching. I played violin since I was a child, played in the National Youth Orchestra and lead my university symphony orchestra. I work as a professional singer, but wanted to address performance anxiety issues that I had been experiencing as an amateur violinist. Cathy used an armoury of different methods to help me work on this, including technical bowing exercises and mental preparation and visualisation. Most importantly, she reinstilled in me the love of playing string music, and reminded me that it is most important to have fun. She is a knowledgeable, caring and empathetic teacher who takes real care to consider her individual pupil’s needs.’
Lucy

‘My 11-year-old daughter has been learning from Cathy for nearly 3 years from grade 4 to grade 8. I’m very amazed of how fast she could teach a difficult piece in a few lessons. I’m especially very thankful for her full concentration during every lesson and so detailed and patient to note down the fingerings and parts to practice in every lesson. She always plans ahead for pieces or techniques to learn one after another. She has already planned the diploma pieces which my daughter has started learning now. My daughter got 3 music scholarships and 2 music exhibition offers at several independent schools. She also won first place in Junior Challenge and Recital in violin last year at Stratford Music Festival.’
Cassey

‘My daughter Jess loves her violin lessons with Cathy. She enjoys the diverse range of techniques, activities and genres that Cathy employs, her specific and timely use of praise and tips and pointers to take her playing to the next level every lesson. Cathy has taken Jess through preparing for orchestral, solo and exam performances and has been vital to her success, progression and enjoyment. Thank you Cathy!’
Alice

‘Cathy mixes patience, kindness and humour with superb musicianship. It’s a winning combination. I have encountered her teaching at NLMS where she brings a group of aspiring violinists through a week-long programme. Cathy is able to deal with all abilities. By creating an atmosphere of calm and relaxation, she brings out the best in each player. Cathy can also teach all age ranges with ease, from eight to eighty eight. Her playing carries something quite special and it seems to be developing all the time. That’s why we aspire to play like Cathy!’ TECrilly

‘Cathy Fox has taught, and continues to teach violin to our sons, Henry and Hugo. She has brought both boys to a most acceptable level of performance, and on grades they are studying Grades 6 and grade 7 respectively.
Alongside pursuing their grades, they have been involved in a wide range of extra- curricular activities invariably initiated and encouraged by Cathy. As neither my husband or I are violinists, she has been key in introducing the boys to a wide range of performance opportunities – There have been numerous , residential and non-residential music camps, day and evening school performances where she was always present.
Outside of the usual school event, she introduced our youngest son to the very prestigious London Schools Symphony Orchestra (LSSO) where he successfully, under her keen tutelage, auditioned for a place in the strings section. On a practical level she has also guided us on the actual purchase of instruments and this advice has proven to be invaluable .
She is a committed and enthusiastic teacher, whose love for her violin has certainly proven to inspire our sons…
We without reservation recommend Cathy as a dedicated and inspiring Violin teacher.’ Barry

‘I love Cathy’s teaching. From my first lesson I felt completely at ease and in very capable hands. I’m an adult learner/returner to the violin and had brought what I thought was a very easy but dull piece of work by Thomas Tallis to play and get initial feedback on. By the end of the lesson Cathy had transformed the ‘piece of work’ into a piece of music for me; full of delicate phrasing and building momentum, it became magnificent and made me very happy 🙂 ‘ Claire

Student Accomplishments

I feel very fortunate to be teaching; some of my students are incredibly hard working. They come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Here’s a snap-shot of a few of my most talented students:

J is 10 years old. She has been learning with me for 2 years and in that time has taken grades 3, 4 and 5. She is taking grade 5 theory this month. She enjoys playing pieces from the Romantic era.

JH is 12 years old. She has been learning with me for 3 1/2 years and has worked hard to go from pre-grade 4 to post-grade 8. She won scholaships to several independant schools and is currently learning lots of Kreutzer studies and unaccompanied Bach movements.

K is 18 years old. He has been learning with me for 7 years, has taken his grade 8 and is excited to be taking up a place at Leeds College of Music.

S is a music graduate but new to learning the violin. In exactly one year she has gone from pre-grade 3 to grade 7.

H was a student for 10 years from age 8-18 and after graduating from university is beginning a career as a violin teacher.

C is age 8 and has been learning with me since he started the violin at age 6. He enjoys playing by ear and likes to learn songs he knows like Match of the Day and the Rocky theme tune.

G is a keen amateur violinist who is enjoying taking a lesson on a different Paganini caprice and a different movement of unaccompanied Bach each week. He likes to play lots of notes!

KJ works for the NHS and has a busy lifestyle but enjoys taking lessons when she can. She is currently learning a Vivaldi concerto.