MINDFUL MUSIC LEARNING: QTS, Kodály, Dalcroze, Colourstrings, Feldenkreis trained. Holding Teaching Diploma also completed PGCert in Teaching Performance Musicianship - Music Theory - Instrumental Les

Find out more about Agnieszka

• 1. How did you first develop a passion for music and the cello?

  I was always a very musical child. I would sing in languages that didn’t exist, could never sit still, and would dance whenever I heard music. I was fascinated by ballet dancers and opera singers and would imitate them on the spot.
  
  My aunt noticed my natural affinity for music and suggested to my parents that they take me for an audition at a music school. During the audition, the jury pointed out that I had “big hands” 🤣 and asked whether I would consider the cello as my first instrument. And so my journey with the cello began.
  
  Looking back, I think it was a very natural match. As cellists, we are a lot like dancers. Playing involves movement in so many directions, with the whole body participating, so good coordination and a natural sense of movement are a real advantage. The only slight challenge for a child who could never sit still was, of course, learning to stay seated! 🤣
  
  Three years later, I took up the piano as my second instrument and also joined the choir. There was something incredibly moving about creating harmony with other people. I remember the excitement of hearing all those different voices come together — it made my heart feel as though it were jumping out of my chest.
  
  Music, for me, was never just about learning an instrument. From the beginning, it was about movement, expression, connection and the joy of making music with others.

• 2. Who are your favourite musicians, composers or artists?

  I don’t really like to have favourites. That came with greater self-awareness over time. I began to feel that having fixed favourites could limit my curiosity and flexibility when exploring, creating and collaborating with artists from other disciplines.
  
  I’m open to many different styles of music and art, and I respect other people’s choices too. We all have our own stories, and I think the art we connect with often reflects a particular time in our lives. For me, those influences are constantly changing, overlapping and mixing — a little like a kaleidoscope.
  
  Of course, there are artists and performances that thrill me more than others. Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto performed by Mischa Maisky, Elgar’s Cello Concerto played by Jacqueline du Pré, and pianists Martha Argerich ❤️ and Ivo Pogorelich are some that have left a particularly strong impression on me.
  
  But there is always room for plenty more.

• 3. Tell us more about your course. What are the benefits of your course?

  First of all, I am interested in you. What are you about? What makes you excited, laugh, cringe or stall? What motivates you, and what puts you off? Understanding the person in front of me is an important part of understanding how they will learn.
  
  I’m also interested in your experience beyond music. Do you have a background in other arts or movement? Do you exercise? You may already have discipline, strength, flexibility, body awareness or postural habits that we can bring into your playing. And if you don’t, that is useful for me to know too — we can begin developing some of those habits together. After all, it is you, your whole self, who plays the instrument.
  
  My teaching focuses not only on what you do, but very much on how you do it. Learning how to practise is therefore a huge part of my lessons. I want students to develop their own strategies, observe themselves, recognise what is and isn’t working, and gradually become more independent in their practice.
  
  Because I work across different art forms, I often use imagery, movement and different senses to reinforce learning. I connect musical ideas with everyday experiences so that they become vivid, memorable and meaningful. Learning can then continue beyond the time spent sitting with the instrument.
  
  Ultimately, I want students to learn music and, through music, discover skills, ideas and inspiration that they can carry beyond the practice room. For me, the process is not merely a route towards a result; it is a field of discovery, experimentation and strategies — and that is where much of the beauty of learning lies.

• 4. What do you think is the most complicated Intrument to master and why?

  I prefer to think of difficulty as something relative. What feels challenging to one person may come naturally to another, depending on previous experience — musical or otherwise — and also on how a new concept is introduced by the teacher.
  
  With the cello, some of the first challenges are quite unusual and even a little paradoxical. We need to apply weight to the instrument without becoming tense: to let go while remaining in control, and to allow weight to travel through the string. We are holding, but not holding. It is an abstract sensation that can take time to understand, for children and adults alike.
  
  There are also some wonderfully counterintuitive elements. As the left hand travels down the fingerboard towards the bridge, for example, the pitch goes up. Meanwhile, the bow arm is performing an entirely different movement, and both sides of the body have to coordinate.
  
  For children, the physical size of the cello can initially add another challenge. The distances are larger, and finding a comfortable relationship with the instrument takes time.
  
  Rather than simply calling these things difficult, I like to think of learning as a detective’s investigation. Each new technique presents a puzzle: What needs to happen, and what is the most economical and successful way of achieving it? That makes the challenge part of the fun.

• 5. What are your keys to success?

  My first key to success is appreciation for myself and trust in my own resources. The realisation that I am the instrument, my body is the instrument also means recognising that I already carry many of the answers within me. The task is to become attentive enough to find them.
  
  The second is curiosity — starting afresh each day and asking, What am I going to discover today? Mistakes belong to that process too. I like to smile at them, collaborate with them and see what they can teach me.
  
  And then there are meaningful relationships and community. Sharing our process allows us to encounter different opinions and perspectives, celebrate the work we have done, learn from one another and become inspired about what comes next.
  
  For me, success grows from self-appreciation, curiosity, attentiveness and connection — trusting what we already have while remaining open to discovering more.

• 6. Which people would you like to meet or would you have liked to meet?

  Dominik Połoński was my professor and remains one of my greatest artistic and life inspirations. He was an incredibly committed and mature musician, and his playing moved me to tears many times. I admired his freedom of thought and artistic decision-making — his ability to speak his own deep mind through music and to trust instincts that had been carefully examined and developed.
  
  After a brain tumour and subsequent treatment left the left side of his body paralysed, he found the courage to return to the stage and play the cello in an entirely unconventional way, using only his right arm. To me, he was a giant. I wish I could sit with him now and tell him how profoundly he influenced my life, both as a musician and as a person.
  
  I would also love to meet Antonio Vivaldi — the Red Priest. I find his work at the Ospedale della Pietà fascinating: at a time when professional opportunities for women in music were extraordinarily limited, he taught and composed for an exceptional all-female musical community whose members played an astonishing range of instruments.
  
  I think I would simply want to sit quietly somewhere nearby and observe him — not interrupt his rhythm, but watch that seemingly unstoppable need to create awaken each day. Where did all those ideas come from, and what kept them flowing?
  
  And finally, Nadia Boulanger. I am fascinated by someone who could influence such extraordinarily different musical voices — from Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein to Astor Piazzolla, Philip Glass and Quincy Jones — without simply producing copies of herself. She was also a pioneering conductor, becoming the first woman to conduct several major orchestras, including the Boston Symphony and New York Philharmonic.
  
  I would want to ask her: How do you recognise what is unique in another person, and how do you help it grow without imposing yourself upon it?

• 7. Can you provide a valuable anecdote?

  One of my Grade 8 cello students is also a very good goalkeeper. When we are working on a technical problem, I sometimes ask him to become the teacher and explain how he would approach a similar challenge in football.
  
  How does he judge the direction and energy of the ball? How does he prepare his body before it arrives? How much effort does he actually need to catch or redirect it — and what happens if he uses too much? We might compare a cello movement with reaching for a ball, passing it or controlling it between the feet.
  
  Suddenly, something that seems complicated on the cello becomes familiar. He already understands anticipation, timing, precision, coordination and the economical use of energy — he simply knows these things through football rather than music.
  
  I particularly enjoy these moments because the student becomes the expert. We take knowledge they already possess and discover how to transfer it into a completely different context.
  
  Very often, the solution to something new is hiding in something we already know.

• 8. What are the little touches that make you a Superprof?

  I believe the little touches begin with genuine attention to the person in front of me. I bring curiosity, imagination and high standards to my teaching, but also warmth, humour and the willingness to change direction when something isn’t working.
  
  I take the work seriously, but we don’t have to be serious all the time. There is room to experiment, laugh and collaborate with mistakes. Precision and enjoyment can absolutely coexist.
  
  I also believe a teacher should remain a learner. I don’t need to have every answer immediately; I need to be present, observant and willing to search for the answer together with my student. Teaching is a relationship, not simply a transfer of information.
  
  Perhaps the little touch I value most is this: a good teacher doesn’t only teach you what you don’t know. They help you discover how much you already know — and how to use it.