Department of Music

"Dan Stepner's Solo Bach workshop at Brandeis University is a wonderful and essential resource for violinists and violists who are studying and performing these cornerstones of our repertoire. Practicing, equipment, history, phrasing and performing are some of the subjects we covered during the daily lessons, master classes and lunches together. Dan is a superb violinist and teacher, and a week spent working with him on Bach is an opportunity not to be missed."

— Danielle Maddon, Concertmaster, New England Philharmonic

"It was a very special treat to have intense one-on-one lessons with Prof. Stepner… I studied everything from the dynamics of voicing, the drama of harmonic phrasing, and chromatic fingerings especially helpful in solo Bach – to bowings and small technical points that can make a performance stylistically convincing. I highly recommend this course to anyone whishing to improve his/her understanding and performance of Bach’s solo music."

— Lisa Park, professional violinist

"The intimate setting and personal interactions with Mr. Stepner and the other violinists fostered trust and openness to explore ideas and thoughts on Bach's compositions. Not only is Mr. Stepner an insightful artist and expert in Bach, but also a teacher that brings out the best in every player."

— Susan Kim, professional violinist and teacher

"It was a great learning experience. Mr. Stepner is a gifted and inspiring teacher and Brandeis has excellent facilities for music making."

— Kurt Mundstedt, young professional violinist

"... it was wonderful to devote a whole week to such amazing repertoire."

— Rachael Schlosberg, DMA candidate

"The intensity of a coaching session every day and the follow-through/consistency that this allowed was a very special opportunity. Discussions over lunch, ranging from Russian literature, politics, music, stories of concerts near and far – these all completed the experience. Thank you for a terrific week!"

— Georgia Luikens, Violinist and musicologist.

"Dan Stepner’s deep knowledge of and respect for every note of the Bach Sonatas and Partitas is a treasure to be explored by all violinists devoted to this remarkable repertoire. He addressed every one of my extensive questions about articulation, fingering, opposing interpretations of a phrase and proposed myriad solutions that pushed my thinking further than I could have imagined. I am now inspired by an entirely fresh approach to the technical challenges and musical complexity of this music. This week of Bach immersion at Brandeis University with Dan and all of the workshop students was a complete pleasure."

— Julie Leven, professional violinist and founder of Shelter Music Boston.