Crissman Taylor and Gilles Rullmann

Ms. Crissman Taylor runs an integrated Alexander Technique curriculum at Utrecht Conservatorium for the past 30 years. Courses, lectures and lessons create common language, practices and experience among all students and teachers, and space for continued discovery throughout conservatory training. She has created new tactics to stimulate musicians to incorporate Alexander principles into their daily music practice, and has developed an online learning environment to support class and lesson work at conservatory level.

Ms. Taylor’s background in vocal and violin performance, combined with her AT teaching, and studies in sociology/psychology at Harvard University combine in her work life. In addition to a long career as violinist in New York and Europe, she is also a mezzo-soprano, and active as soloist in a wide range of repertoire, singing in recitals, chamber music concerts, and performances of cantatas, oratorios and other works with orchestra.

Ms. Taylor is a founding member of Artist in Balance, an interdisciplinary performance and educational collective. Her work has been informed by cross-disciplinary collaborations including Alexander-based performance research work for dancers and musicians with Tony Thatcher of the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. She conducted extensive research into the challenges of violin playing, founding the Violinist in Balance method, which combines Alexander re-education with custom made chin rest and shoulder rests, using 3-D printing technology.

www.artistinbalance.org
www.violinistinbalance.nl

——————————-

Gilles Rullmann

Gilles Rullmann is an Alexander teacher and violinist from Haarlem, the Netherlands. He has been a professional violin player for over 20 years, specialising in (Irish) traditional music, performing extensively in Western Europe. In his AT teaching he draws on years of experience teaching violin, Irish music, whitewater kayaking and Environmental Science at Utrecht University.

Gilles works as an AT teacher at the conservatorium of Amsterdam and the conservatorium of Utrecht. Together with Criss Taylor he founded Artist in Balance, where they provide a combination of teaching and making custom chinrests and shoulder rests for string players from all over the world.

Gilles was trained at ATCA by Tessa Marwick and Paul Versteeg in Amsterdam. An avid outdoor sports enthusiast himself, in his private practice he works a lot with runners, climbers, tennis players and musicians. Gilles was chairman of NeVLAT, the Dutch Society of Teachers in the Alexander Technique from 2017-2021.

www.alexandertechniekhaarlem.nl
www.artistinbalance.org

crissman.taylor@casema.nl


https://www.artistinbalance.org