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Body Mapping with Ron Mutchnik
May 1, 2022 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
7-9pm on Zoom
Register Here
Body Mapping is the method founded by William Conable, and developed by Barbara Conable, to help musicians consciously correct and refine their body maps so they can produce graceful, efficient, and coordinated movement and avoid pain, injury, or limitation in the playing of their instruments.
The body map is your representation of your body in your brain, and as with many maps, it can be inaccurate and missing important details, so developing an accurate and adequate map that allows you to play more musically with ease is essential to enjoying your music-making for a lifetime.
In the sessions being offered, upper string players will learn how to access accurate information about their upper bodies (including the head, neck, arms, and spine) and their lower body (including the hips, knees, ankles, and feet) as well as understanding how we breathe and its importance to upper string players, and apply this knowledge directly and with insight into playing and teaching the violin and viola.
The sessions will be divided into three two-hour online sessions on Zoom.
Introduction to Body Mapping
Balance
Arms
Breathing
Legs
Three 20 minute Body Mapping lessons for participants who wish to have one-on-one experience.
What to have to observe and participate:
You will want to be in a space where you have room to walk around some without obstacles in your way. Also, you will need your instruments to be able to experience the benefits of body mapping first hand and wear comfortable shoes and be able to take them off wearing socks or some other kind of foot covering as you wish when we do certain exercises that involve feeling the feet on the floor. Have a rug, mat or carpet to lie down on for a few of the exercises and have rolled up socks, or a towel (possibly with a band/string around to keep them in their rolled up shape) and have a glass or cup handy.
You’ll also need a few large pieces of paper for drawing (but none of your drawings have to be shown to anyone), and a regular pad or stack of papers and pencil/pen to write any notes you wish to take- especially so you can refer back to them and refresh your memory as the sessions will be a week apart. Recording is not allowed but a recording will be made available to any participant after the course ends who has paid for a session that they were unable to attend.
I encourage everyone to be present for all six sessions as the information and knowledge is cumulative and will give you a much better and comprehensive understanding of Body Mapping and how to apply it in your teaching and playing than if you only attend a session or two.
It is my pleasure to present these sessions to our local chapter and I hope it will spur greater interest and a desire to learn more and more about playing with the greatest ease and freedom and expressivity by using Body Mapping in your playing and teaching.
Violinist Ronald Mutchnik graduated from the University of Maryland Baltimore County summa cum laude, where he studied with Robert Gerle. While there, he won the Baltimore Music Club and Baltimore Musicians’ competitions. He earned his Master’s degree from the New England Conservatory, studying with Joseph Gingold and continued post-graduate studies at Tel Aviv University in Israel with Yair Kless.
He is active as an orchestral violinist, chamber musician, recitalist, and soloist and has served as Concertmaster of the Columbia Pro Cantare for over 30 years and with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra for 36 years. He has performed as soloist with numerous orchestras in Maryland, including the Columbia Orchestra and the Frederick Symphony and appeared in the film Washington Square, performing his own composition, and in concerts with Smokey Robinson, Dionne Warwick, and was the concertmaster at Pat Sajack’s wedding in Annapolis. As a chamber musician he has appeared on many local series including Music in the Great Hall and An Die Musik.
As a teacher he has taught privately in Howard County for 40 years and taught at Towson University. He was a past president of the American String Teachers Association’s MD/DC Chapter, produced a music education video, “Posture and Balance: The Dynamic Duo” toured Korea coaching and performing chamber music, and is a founder of and performer with the Sundays At Three” Chamber Music Series and the founder and music director of the HCCO, the professional chamber orchestra of Howard County, Maryland. He is the 2009 winner of the MD/DC Chapter of ASTA’s String Teacher of the Year Award and the Outstanding Artist Award, the “Howie” for Howard County, Maryland. His recent performance of the Bach Chaconne at the
Baltimore Bach Concert Series was described by Michael Lawrence, creator and director of the critically acclaimed movie Bach & Friends, as a “nuanced and expressive” interpretation that “holds up with the best performances I have heard.”