My life is divided into “before Kató Havas” and “after Kató Havas”.
I “before Kató Havas” was not happy with how I played, I was very nervous, like the vast majority of musicians, even if they don’t admit it, as Kató herself used to say. I had studied at the Milan Conservatory, which is considered an excellent school, but in the end I didn’t feel confident ….

I “after Kató Havas” can easily play works that once seemed impossible to me, in public in any situation and enjoy myself. I have played as a soloist, with piano, in concerts with orchestra, without suffering from paralyzing feelings of doubt and fear about being able to perform certain pieces.

I have also changed my way of seeing the music activity and other musicians. One piece of advice to eliminate stage fright that I want to give to those who suffer from it is to, first of all, completely stop criticizing other musicians for how they play.

I teach the Havas New Approach and I work hard to spread it as much as possible because I have seen the enormous difference it can make for those who play, at all levels. All teachers know that by teaching we also learn from our students and I have seen that teaching with the New Approach has given me more confidence also as a teacher because I know how to help my students overcome their difficulties and progress much faster. 

Teaching in a way that facilitates and greatly accelerates the student’s progress makes the teacher’s job less tiring and more satisfying and could bring many more people closer to music and active musical practice, particularly in our case of string instruments, with all the benefits they themselves and society as a whole could derive from it.

Another great merit of Kató was to have brought the performer’s attention back to the music, to communicating the music instead of focusing on the single separate movements of the fingers and hands: “every movement has a musical purpose”, every movement must have a “rhythmic impulse”.

What the New Approach does is free the persons from their chains so that they can express themselves with their own personality through music. Each one expresses what he or she is: “Of course, potential varies enormously, but there is potential in everyone.” (Stage fright).

I am immensely grateful to Kató Havas because, thanks to her teaching and friendship, I can now play as a soloist in public in any situation, express myself and do it with pleasure. For me, being able to do this was like recovering the speech I had lost, being able to speak again, an enormous liberation.

Monica Cuneo, violin and viola teacher

This text is part of an article that has been published in “A tutto arco”, the magazine of ESTA Italy, 2019. Link to full article.