When teaching high school orchestra, I had a Viola Day every year for my freshman orchestra. The idea was to teach the violin students the alto clef in one class period so they could play both violin and viola. I also encouraged the violists to learn treble clef on the violin. Over the years, I developed a workbook and now an app for students to master the clef. Attendees will receive PDFs of the workbook and access to the app to use with their students. I will also talk about the viola as a transposing instrument. My hope is that publishers will make this option available in the future the same way they often provide Violin 3 parts. Either way, since violin and viola require the exact same technique, with a little encouragement, students could move from violin to viola as easily as they move from oboe to English horn.
Frank Lestina
- Biographical Information
Frank Lestina has degrees from Roosevelt University and the University of Illinois. He taught orchestra in Illinois for 33 years including Danville, Libertyville, and Vernon Hills.
The LHS Orchestra performed at the Midwest Clinic in 1991 and again in 1996. VHHS opened in the fall of 2000 with Mr. Lestina as Fine Arts Supervisor and Orchestra Director. The string enrollment grew to 150 students in three orchestras in the first ten years. The VHHS Symphony Orchestra performed at the Midwest Clinic in 2009.
Mr. Lestina retired in 2013 and currently serves as adjunct faculty at DePaul University and VanderCook College of Music in Chicago. In addition, Mr. Lestina currently serves on the Advisory Board of The Midwest Clinic and moderates the New Music Reading Session for Orchestra. Mr. Lestina served as interim Director of Programming for the 2019 Midwest Clinic.
Mr. Lestina is a member of American String Teachers Association and was very active in the Illinois Music Educators Association where he served on the ILMEA State Board as the District 7 President for two terms.
Mr. Lestina is very active as a guest conductor and clinician. He enjoys arranging and adapting music for string and full orchestra. Mr. Lestina conducted the ILMEA All-State Orchestra for the 2014 Conference in Peoria, Illinois. In 2018, Mr. Lestina was awarded an honorary Doctorate from VanderCook College of Music for his contributions to music education.