In this Quick Hits, Professor of Music Melissa Knecht talks habits, pets, and apples.

What is the most important aspect of teaching violin for you?

I love the journey of taking a student through the technical and musical process, to facilitate his or her own musical ideas as he or she ultimately touches the lives of others through performance.

What is your favorite piece? Why?

Among my favorite pieces is the Beethoven Violin Concerto.  It demands a cultured sound and deep musical sensitivity that stands apart from other virtuosic string repertoire.

Who is your favorite composer? 

Selecting a favorite composer is difficult for me.  I guess it would have to be Beethoven because of his elegant sophistication or Brahms because of his rich melodic ideas and ability to make it all come together on a string instrument.

If you had to teach any other instrument aside from strings, which one would you choose?

Piano may be my second choice.  But I would need to replace my decades of string training and experience with piano before I would be a capable teacher.

If you taught any subject other than music, what would it be?

Perhaps acting, with years of training and experience.

Do you prefer teaching or performing?

Apples and oranges — I love both teaching and performing equally, depending on my given situation.

What is your student pet peeve?

I love all my students.  But it can be slightly challenging for me, as a teacher, when a student comes to me with many technical problems and wants to play difficult music rather than working on technique to support the music.

Where is your favorite place to travel?

Italy.

What are some hobbies outside of music?

Running. I have very little time left in my life for hobbies as a musician, mother, wife, and professor.

What is your favorite food? Why?

Apples are my favorite food because of childhood memories of my grandmother always peeling one for me when I visited. She peeled the apple in one long continuous loop.

Do you have any advice for music students?

How dare you influence the quality of your life by the irrational whims of others.

What is an impactful memory from your childhood? 

I remember attending Interlochen Music Camp as a child and realizing that I wanted to surround myself with music as a life profession. 

Do you have any music puns? 

As a violist, I have heard many. Here is one classic: What’s the similarity between lighting and a violist’s fingers? They never strike the same place twice.

What do you see yourself doing fifteen years in the future?

My goal is to be alive and kicking!

Can you sum up your life philosophy in one sentence?

Success favors the prepared mind.

Do you have any pets? 

The only pet we have had in our family is a pug named Figgy Pudding.