Joshua Peckins, award-winning concert violinist, has performed throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia, from Carnegie Hall to Beijing’s Performing Arts Center. Described by the President of the International Fritz Kreisler Violin Competition as, “...intensive, profound, intelligent,” Joshua Peckins “…is among the most active recitalists in New England,” (The Enterprise) performing solo concerts of “particular brilliance” (Telegram). Having played chamber music and recitals in the United States, Vienna, Paris, Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Japan, and Canada, he was also invited to give solo performances and pedagogical lectures in Japan – broadcast on national television.
Joshua Peckins’ former students are currently pursuing successful performance careers in the United States, Canada, England, and Austria, and have been accepted into the Eastman School of Music, Peabody Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, Boston Conservatory, Longy School of Music, the Prayner Conservatory in Vienna, the San Francisco Conservatory, the Schulich School of Music at McGill, Colombia, and MIT, among other prestigious schools.
Most active today as a recitalist, Peckins has presented solo concerts at renowned international venues such as the Figaro Hall of Palace Pálffy (where Mozart himself presented his The Marriage of Figaro), Crystal Hall in Japan, the Haydn and Mendelssohn Halls in Austria, the Artist Series of the Bled Festival in Slovenia, the Salzburg Festival at the Mozarteum, the Orford Festival in Canada, and the Cervo Festival in Italy. Recent highlights include a cycle of the complete solo violin repertoire by Bach and Ysaÿe in a series of over 30 lecture recitals attended by hundreds of audience members, described by Scout Magazines as “solo violin music at its best.”
As a teacher, Mr. Peckins is connected by a direct pedagogical lineage to Yehudi Menuhin, Carl Flesch, Galamian, Delay, Enescu, Boulanger, Gertler, and Gingold, some of the most towering figures in the history of violin pedagogy. He has written a detailed curriculum of violin technique for his students based on these teachings, and his pedagogical videos have been viewed by thousands of students around the world at www.peckinsstudioonline.com.
Mr. Peckins encourages students always to reach for the highest possible musical standards, while also working on the personal aspects of violin study – such as patience, non-judgmental self awareness, concentration and discipline – that both make those musical goals possible and enrich the student’s whole life. High standards of excellence, personal striving, cultivating a creative, artistic sensibility, working non-judgmentally as part of a community, and learning to share one’s gifts with others are vital for anyone.
Since returning to Boston in 2012 from Vienna, Mr. Peckins has taught at many of the most prestigious institutions for music education in Greater Boston, including Walnut Hill School for the Arts (where he also presented a masterclass on violin technique), From the Top, the Rivers School, the Winsor School, the New School of Music, NMYO, and the Concord Conservatory.
At the New England Conservatory, Peckins taught the Violin Seminar (a special technique seminar for some of the school’s most advanced students), has coached the Philharmonia violins (the NEC College and Graduate School orchestra), was appointed 1st violin coach of the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (the Prep’s top orchestra), co-coached with the college head of chamber music Merry Peckham, taught the Festival Youth Orchestra violins, has led several chamber groups to Jordan Hall honors performances and other off-campus honors performances, and has guided multiple students to acceptance into violin performance degree programs at prestigious conservatories.
Post Grad Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts, MM Yale School of Music, BM New England Conservatory.
