Teacher Profile: Hannah Novack
About Hannah Novack
Hannah Novack is a Washington, D.C. based Violin and Viola instructor who works with students of all ages and levels. She began her own journey with music at the age of four. With three older siblings who played the Piano, Cello, and Viola, it was a natural decision that she take up Violin to complete the family quartet. Her love of music took off from this young age, and she now enjoys sharing her love of music with others.
Hannah's early training was through the Suzuki method for both solo and chamber music performance. Though her background is Classical, she had the opportunity to explore a wide range of musical genres throughout her studies: jazz, folk, musical theater -- and her all-time favorite -- Irish fiddle music. In addition to Violin, Hannah also plays and teaches Viola and Saxophone.
As she continued her musical education, Hannah found opportunities to overcome performance anxiety and stage fright, which was something she experienced early in her journey. She pursued a number of different ensembles and performance opportunities throughout her childhood, and through that experience, she developed a new sense of confidence that has made her a stronger musician and educator. She was a member of the Mansfield Youth Symphony Orchestra, performed with a local church ensemble, and performed with her siblings in a quartet for events actively before college.
Hannah graduated from the University of Michigan, and during her time there, she studied Chamber Music under Katri Ervamaa. She performed on both Violin and Viola for various string quartets and trio ensembles. The experience working with Ervamaa gave Hannah a deeper sense of musicality by working intensively with others in this setting. It was during this time that she first heard the term “ear candy,” in reference to the Borodin String Quartet No. 2, which is another all-time favorite piece. The term "ear candy" perfectly describes all the things Hannah loves about playing the violin: creating music that is sweet, satisfying, and easy on the ears.
Hannah first realized her passion for teaching at a young age -- when she began giving Violin lessons to her regular babysitting customers. She naturally gravitated towards helping others start their journey with music and enjoyed working with children. She now works with students of all ages and believes in helping every individual find a fulfilling and unique experience with learning music. Because Hannah has first hand experience with performance anxiety and an empathetic understanding of her students, she strives to create an environment where they feel at ease with exploring both successes and the mistakes that lead us to grow. Hannah also believes honest and open communication is the best approach to helping her students progress, while keeping standards for success high. Above all, her goal as an educator is to spread the joy of music that she experienced at a young age. To Hannah, music has been a gift and a love that has filled her life with beauty and magic.