Hi, I’m Russle! I’m a folk musician, visual artist, and teacher to all ages in Philadelphia. As a little kid, I loved to sing and perform – I would belt out show tunes from the front porch and the bathtub, leading me to a lifetime of music! I grew up playing Suzuki violin for nearly a decade as well as violin in my school’s orchestra and briefly trombone in the school band. Additionally, I sang as an alto in my school chorus and in the youth choir at my local UU church from K-12! As my relationship to music changed, I also taught myself piano and guitar while growing up. I began improvising original songs and have been songwriting ever since, with an interest in fiddle and folk music.

As a student at Oberlin College, I began teaching interdisciplinary arts to students k-8 and to my college peers, including topics in music, fiber, and dance. Now based in Philadelphia, I teach interdisciplinary music and art to kids and adults in many capacities. I also organize music sessions where I sing, play guitar/violin/autoharp/piano, and play with found objects to create collaborative improvisational songs with my friends! Additionally, I’m a part of the Spiral Q Peoplehood Pageant Band and the No Arena Flash Chorus.

As a teacher, I am warm, patient, and curious, and I believe everyone has the capacity to be an artist. I love teaching all ages in creative, interdisciplinary ways that center confidence, skill building, experimentation, and improvisational play!

When did you begin playing Violin, and why?

I began playing suzuki violin around 1st grade, my mom signed me up for lessons seeing that I loved music.

What other instruments do you play, and what is your experience with them?

Guitar – 10 years, self taught + 1 year of lessons

Piano – 20 years, self taught  + 1 year of lessons

Voice – 20 years, k-12 choir at school & church, self taught 

Autoharp – 1 year, self-taught

Trombone – 1 year, school band

What are your personal goals as a musician?

• Grow my experience in fiddling and folk music

• Grow my experience in music education, research & explore various pedagogies 
• Conduct interdisciplinary music lessons using visual arts & movement, transfer my experience from art education relating to embodiment, learning styles, & regulation.
• Expand skills in my teaching instruments (piano, guitar, violin, voice)
• Learn finger style on guitar
• Grow musical collaborations 
• Practice looping audio 
• Have my songs produced 

Do you have a memory of a time when a musical concept or technique really clicked?  Something you’ll remember forever?

In lessons with my violin teacher, I will always remember drawing with different colors in my sheet music to indicate the different mood changes in the story within Humoresque. This ingrained in me the importance of connecting emotionally with the instrument and the song, of thinking of songs as journeys or stories, and how powerful it can be for a student to have their learning style and strengths validated and catered to.

What is your favorite piece of advice from one of your past (or current) teachers?

Framing repetition as building muscle memory, emphasizing that whatever you repeat will stick, so it helped my motivation to be diligent when practicing specific techniques and was a nice way to think about the brain and body while playing. The body is always listening and learning too, alongside your brain.

What was your most challenging moment learning an instrument?

Emotional challenges like insecurity & comparison, a mean piano teacher, and stage fright / performance anxiety.

What is your biggest musical achievement?

Learning to comfortably improvise music with myself and with others, and gaining confidence in my composition.

Favorite thing about teaching?

Fostering a flow of creative play, collaborating in play with students, and supporting students in overcoming challenges.

What is a piece of advice you would like to share with anyone learning music?

Music is an expression, so it can sound any way. Mistakes can be portals and we can make satisfying music even with very little technical skill. Music, like drawing, can provide a mirror to see, accept, soothe and push yourself.

Personal music projects:

• Hosted Porchfest 2024
• Performed my original music at Porchfest that I arranged for multiple singers and instruments 
• Host community music sessions
• Improv & folk collaborations with other musicians 
• Daily improv songwriting on guitar, violin, piano, and voice 
• Spiral Q Peoplehood Pageant Band 
• No Arena Flash Chorus
• self published on SoundCloud recordings of improv processes, and found audios