Alexis Oberreit (EN)

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Instrument: violin

ESA Category: A (teacher diploma)

Teaching addresses:

t.: +32 (0)495 77 40 15 / email: alexis.oberreit@suzuki-music-brussels.be

Over the last thirty years, Alexis has sought to develop a practice which is both centered on the Suzuki Method and completed by elements of a more traditional approach.

The Suzuki Method emphasises learning pieces by heart while focusing on the body and on listening. Deeply convinced by this approach, in which he discovers new riches every day, Alexis is also convinced of the necessity of teaching scales, note-reading and elements of musical analysis to the pupils, even as they progress through the Suzuki repertoire.

Alexis teaches on Wednesdays and Saturdays in his own studio in Schaerbeek and on other weekdays at Ecole Eos in Etterbeek, near Parc Leopold and Place Jourdan.

Why does Alexis love teaching children so much? "Because, while I do like children to be taught to have good manners and to be well organised, I also believe in their raw energy: not only that which every child has naturally, but also that which the child within every adult still possesses. I really think that truly good upbringing will always tend to reconcile these two aspects. This is why I love all children: the well-mannered little ones as well as the "little monsters"... All of us, adults and children alike, seek the same thing: to find some meaning, which can only be done by reconciling our inner contradictions."

Born in Paris of French and American parents, Alexis grew up in Brussels, where he began to learn to play violin from the age of five, first with Tomika Shida, a former pupil of Dr Suzuki and of Arthur Grumiaux who later became a soloist at the Théatre royal de la Monnaie's orchestra, then with Joseph Spira, assistant teacher in Arthur Grumiaux's class at the Brussels Conservatory. He also had lessons for a few months with Angelo Stefanato in Rome.

After obtaining a BA in History at the University of Cambridge (Clare College), he studied at the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel where he joined the violin class of Kati Sebestyén and of Zygmunt Marek Kowalski, then concertmaster at the orchestra of the Théatre Royal de la Monnaie, both of whom were former students of André Gertler.

In parallel, he joined the ESA Suzuki teacher-training course, which he began in England and completed in France, with Karen Kimmett and Christophe Bossuat as trainers. He also had teacher-training lessons for a few weeks with Shinichi Suzuki, during a three-week observer course at the Talent Education Institute in Matsumoto, Japan.

Alexis was for ten years a member of the "Sebastian Strings" chamber orchestra. He is married and the father of two boys and a girl.

Languages: French and English (fluent), Italian (working knowledge), Dutch (basic).

LISTEN TO ALEXIS PLAY IN CONCERT:

June 2024, L v. Beethoven, Sonata op.12 nr 1. Pianist: Araksi Avanesyan