monday 07 june 2025
Renowned International Violinist Jack Liebeck to Work with Pupils at St Mary’s Music School
London-based violinist Jack Liebeck, will attend St Mary’s Music School over the next year to conduct one-to-one lessons and group classes with violin and viola pupils.
The arrangement reaffirms its position as one of the UK's top music schools, offering a world-class music education.
Mr Liebeck, who also teaches at the Royal Academy of Music in London, holding the position of Émile Sauret Professor of Violin, will work with 13 violin and viola pupils at the school, and described the opportunity as “very exciting” and a “great responsibility” as he gets ready to visit “this wonderful school”.
It is hoped the new arrangement could lead to other major figures coming to work at the school with other departments in future.
Dr Valerie Pearson, Head of Strings at St Mary’s Music School, said: “This is an incredible opportunity both for the school and for the pupils. Pupils already have exceptional tuition at the school, and bringing in someone like Jack Liebeck adds that bit of stardust and complements perfectly the work we already do. Our relationship with Jack has evolved very naturally over the past five years. During his visits to work with pupils in masterclasses he and I saw an opportunity. It was clear that pupils were motivated by Jack's expertise and advice, and Jack enjoyed working with our responsive pupils. The obvious progression was to have him work with us regularly, pushing our young pupils' learning forward. He also helps pupils to feel more connected to the musical world beyond Scotland, and helps to raise awareness of the school, and its profile, further afield. Jack is an exceptional player and teacher and is a natural fit with the department's exceptional teachers. He will be focusing on the fundamentals, and helping our pupils realise what they need to do to make it to that next level and beyond."
Jack Liebeck said: “I am very excited to start working more regularly with the talented young musicians at St Mary’s Music School. Having always enjoyed my previous visits to this wonderful school, the prospect of a closer involvement in helping to mould the next generation of young players is very intriguing and a great responsibility. So far I have found that the pupils are extremely responsive to our time together and I feel that we can make a palpable difference to their long-term progress. I look forward to seeing how our work together evolves.”
