Till Approach Intensive at the Veneto Art and Music Summit

A Hands-On Workshop for String Players

June 20-24, 2026

Join an immersive, high-level training designed to transform technical ease, artistic freedom, and expressive control in your playing. Over five dynamic days, participants will explore practical strategies and leave with transferable tools that support long-term artistic freedom, comfort, and confidence.

• Resolve tension, discomfort, and playing limitations

• Develop a rich, free, and flexible tone

• Develop left-hand coordination, equal finger strength, and ease across the fingerboard

• Master orchestral challenges including tremolo, extreme dynamics, repeated patterns, pizzicato, and harmonics

• Gain reliable strategies for confident ensemble playing

Each participant receives a 60-minute private lesson, and all sessions are practical, collaborative, and immediately applicable to real repertoire. As part of VAMS 2026, participants in the VAMS Performance Academy are welcome to join selected sessions of the Till Approach Intensive, depending on their rehearsal schedules. All Performance Academy participants will receive a 60-minute private lesson as part of the program.

Program Format

• Introductory Session: 2 hours

• Daily Session 1: 1 hour

• Daily Sessions 2 and 3: 1.5 hours each

• Closing Session: 2 hours

• One 60-minute private lesson per participant

June 20: Opening Evening

Introductory Session: The Till Approach & Its Fundamental Principles

An overview of the core principles of the Till Approach, providing participants with practical tools to overcome playing limitations, resolve discomfort and pain, and build greater ease, freedom, and efficiency in their playing.

June 21: Day 2

Session 1: Tone Production Fundamentals—A New Look at Martelé

Discover the essential tools that create a rich, singing tone while enabling complete freedom and ease in the right arm. These principles form the foundation for the full spectrum of bow strokes and dynamic range.

Session 2: Orchestral Challenges—Rests & Silence

Explore practical strategies for remaining comfortable, focused, and fully in control during rests and silence, while learning how to shape musical expression even in stillness.

Session 3: Orchestral Excerpts—Extreme Dynamics

Develop reliable solutions for orchestral passages that demand both powerful projection and refined soft playing.

June 22: Day 3

Session 1: Four Equally Strong Fingers—Left Arm Fundamentals

Learn the tools that create four equally strong fingers, accessible in all positions and interval combinations. These principles enhance sight-reading, accelerate problem-solving, and support comfort and efficiency.

Session 2: Orchestral Challenges—Responding to Cues

Many passages that feel secure in the practice room become unstable in rehearsal due to conductor cues or ensemble interactions. This session provides strategies to respond confidently and reliably to external cues.

Session 3: Orchestral Excerpts—Tremolo in All Its Guises

Practical solutions for tremolo challenges across a wide range of orchestral contexts, including extended passages, shifting dynamics, and rapidly changing patterns.

June 23: Day 4

Session 1: Right Arm Shaping Fundamentals

Discover a simple yet transformative tool that creates organic phrase direction, prevents running out of bow, and brings clarity and ease to string crossings and off-the-string strokes.

Session 2: Orchestral Challenges—Repeated Notes & Patterns

Repeated figures can often lead to confusion, fatigue, and discomfort. This session introduces a practical toolbox for approaching repeated notes and patterns with clarity, efficiency, and ease.

Session 3: Orchestral Excerpts—Pizzicato, Harmonics & Special Techniques

Build comfort and reliability in frequently encountered orchestral techniques that are rarely taught in a systematic way.

June 24: Day 5

Closing Session: Integrating the Tools & Moving Forward

Reflect on the week’s work and explore how to carry these principles forward, developing a sustainable framework for continued growth and long-term artistic freedom.