Cairns Violin Studio

An awesome teacher with a skill level that I didn't expect to find outside the big cities. Catherine Clarke's very personal approach to teaching the violin is very helpful. 100% recommended!

I've been having online violin lessons from Catherine for a few months now and can't recommend Cairns Violin Studio enough. Catherine is a masterful, detailed and very patient teacher. Her passion for music shines through in her teaching. I leave lessons motivated to practise and committed to making progress on my goals. What has surprised me is that the medium of online lessons has provided little disadvantage to my progress. If anything it's been more convenient for my schedule and lifestyle (travelling, lockdowns etc). The success of this mode of teaching has been because of Catherine's experience and confidence in online teaching, combined with her intricate knowledge of physiology and visual cues from me as the student (she can spot a tense thumb from an entire state border away!).If you're someone like me (an adult returning to violin after a long break since school), maybe feeling a bit uncertain or nervous about learning or relearning violin - Cairns Violin Studio is an empowering, fun, and energising way to dive back in. Thank you, Catherine!

My little one's been there almost 2yrs. Catherine has latest of experiences and patience to little kids to adults. Highly recommend.

I'm an adult beginner. I started with Cairns Violin Studio about a year ago. I highly recommend Catherine as a violin teacher. She has so much knowledge and experience from the finest institutions and instructors in Europe, the UK and Australia. Yet somehow we are lucky enough to have her right here in Cairns!Catherine has not only studied violin for many years, she has formally studied violin teaching (and it really shows). She is so intelligent and helpful. Any weird noise you make on your violin - Catherine will know exactly what's happening, and show you how to fix it. She's flexible and accommodating with lesson times. She always returns messages in a timely manner. She's available to help you out between lessons if you've popped a string (even if she told you not to try to tighten it by yourself with the pegs, and you did anyway....).Many of your options for violin lessons around town will be with university students. I'm sure they're nice, but they couldn't possibly have the level of experience and expertise that Catherine has.Finally, Catherine is very kind and validating as you display the many, many mistakes you will inevitably make as a new violinist. She always says something like Ah yes

I have been attending in person lessons with Catherine for around 4 months now. I have started as an adult and a COMPLETE beginner and I'm absolutely loving it. Catherine takes special attention and consideration to ensure you learn the best techniques while keeping your body safe so you can play long term. She breaks down each lesson to be easy to understand and if you don't get it, she is talented enough to teach you the same thing in many different ways to suit your unique learning style. I feel like she provides the perfect mix of patience, encouragement, and push that is required to be a teacher. Violin is tough, but I've really been surprising myself with all the progress I've made so far. Highly recommend Cairns Violin Studio.

Catherine is a very talented teacher; she manages to make classes interesting and keeps me motivated which can be challenging at times for me!! If you’re just starting out or experienced, I recommend Catherine 100% as she makes you feel motivated, and enthusiastic to learn.

Catherine is one of the best violin teachers I have had the pleasure to know. I have two daughters studying violin. My 10year old has been playing for two years and I am over the moon with the progress she has made. Catherine created an individual learning plan that includes, theory, warm up, technical development, exams, concerts, workshops, group sessions and playing songs for enjoyment. She knows how to get the best out of my girls, she is kind and caring and my girls are always excited to share milestone via text messages. Which Catherine always replies with an encouraging message back.My other daughter has now been playing for 6 months. She is 8 years old. She is already playing songs and performed 6 pieces in our recent concert. She is learning so quickly. They are already playing some songs together.I have and do recommend the 'Cairns Violin Studio' for anyone who wants to learn to play violin.

Catherine is a superb violin teacher.Kind, patient, skillful, inspires the learner to high standards of achievement. Only regret is we didn’t find her sooner.

Our son has been enjoying learning violin from Catherine since he was 3 years old. Its incredible to see he has been able to read the note he is playing at his young age. Catherine is very caring and gentle. She has passion and patience for teaching. We are very happy to see our son enjoy violin from such a young age.

Our family's engagement with Cairns Violin Studio has been absolutely wonderful. Catherine is an amazing teacher, wonderful with children, and clearly a talented and accomplished musician. She is communicative, flexible, and engages with students in a warm and friendly manner to achieve the best potential learning and performance outcomes possible. We cannot recommend highly enough.