A letter from Mari Coetzee, MM · Juilliard School
"I was walking down the hallway of the 4th floor of the Juilliard School — where the practice rooms were. A cacophony of sound met me around every corner. Dozens of musicians grinding away, hashing out difficult passages, trying to make the music come to life."
Sometimes it was inspiring. Mostly, it was suffocating.
My colleagues and I admitted quietly to each other that we often felt discouraged. We'd hear pieces we were working on ourselves. Cellists stacked against each other, everyone playing the same concerto for the same competitions. It felt like there was room for only one at the top.
Playing the same notes as dozens of the world's most gifted cellists should have been energizing. Instead, it produced the opposite. No matter how hard I worked, it felt like nothing would ever be enough to rival the near-perfect technical execution all around me.
"It wasn't until I found a hidden gem in advanced music theory classes that everything changed. Surrounded by conductors and composers — musicians who approached music as art, not sport — I discovered a completely different way in."
Diving into the contrapuntal fabric of Bach, Brahms, and Chopin, I stopped trying to be the best and became a treasure-hunter. Decoding the hidden messages in a score. Finding the love, struggle, and shared humanity that composers had buried there centuries ago.
Practice took on a new meaning. I might still be playing the same concerto as 29 other cellists. But my interpretation had become as unique as my fingerprint. By diving into the DNA of the composers, I found my own inner voice — and started experiencing the satisfying journey of an artist who uses the score to go beyond the score.
In this 9-week program, I will take you on the same journey.
A 9-Week Intensive for Pre-Professional Cellists
Stop Playing Beautiful Notes.
Start Telling Stories.
The Artistic Voice Mastermind gives you the frameworks, practice strategies, and hands-on coaching to develop a distinct musical identity — and get there in a fraction of the usual time.
9 Weeks · 63 Days · 3 Touchpoints Per Week · Paid Work-Study Included
Who This Is For
You're ready for this if any of these are true
- You're an undergraduate or master's-level cellist preparing for a professional career
- You compete in competitions or have major recitals on the horizon
- You want to build a teaching practice that is genuinely inspiring and method-driven
- You perform solo, chamber, or orchestral repertoire at a high level
- Your teacher shapes your phrasing for you — and you want the instincts to do it yourself
- You spend a year on a major work when you know there has to be a better way
The Problem
You've mastered the notes.
No one taught you the story.
By the time you reach the conservatory or college level, you've spent years building extraordinary technical skill. Intonation, tone, bow technique — it shows.
But something is missing. You've been told to "feel the music more" or "put your own emotion into it" — without anyone showing you how. So you shape phrases the way your teacher does, or the way a recording does, and wonder why it still doesn't feel entirely like you.
This is not a technique problem. It's an intentionality problem. And it's exactly what the Artistic Voice Mastermind is built to solve.
The Method
Head and heart.
In one framework.
The Artistic Voice Mastermind combines two distinct approaches that are rarely taught together: rigorous score analysis and deep musicality coaching. Together they give you the intellectual tools and the emotional instincts to become a complete musical storyteller.
Finding the DNA of a Piece
Mari's 3-part score study framework takes you from a brand-new piece to performance-ready in a fraction of the usual time. A major work that typically takes a year to polish? You'll be there in three months — not by cutting corners, but by working with far greater precision and intention from day one.
Finding the Emotional Story
Ine's musicality coaching reveals the inner emotional journey of every piece you work on. Like a great comedian who knows exactly how to build tension and release it at the perfect moment, you'll learn to take your audiences on a journey that is unmistakably, uniquely yours.
Practice Strategy and Support
A smarter way to practice.
Built into the program.
Mari's Powerful Practice Strategies
Knowing what to work on is only half the equation. How you work on it determines whether the hours you put in actually compound into mastery. This mastermind includes Mari's Powerful Practice signature strategies — a set of methods proven to double the effectiveness of time spent in the practice room. The same number of hours. Twice the progress.
Three touchpoints, every week
Up to three 25-minute Zoom sessions per week — Pomodoro-length, the optimal duration for sustained focused work. Sessions can also be substituted with text message accountability check-ins, so support fits your schedule.
By week 9, you don't need a coach to tell you how to practice. You know.
The Outcome
What changes after
9 weeks
1. A replicable framework for approaching any new piece — getting to performance-ready at roughly 4x the usual speed
2. A practice approach built on the Powerful Practice strategies — so every hour in the practice room works harder than it did before
3. The ability to direct your own practice with confidence, independently and without waiting for a teacher's input
4. The instinct to shape a phrase, make interpretive decisions, and tell a musical story — independent of any recording or teacher's instruction
5. Playing that carries an artistic message, not just beautiful notes — and audiences who feel the difference
6. The tools to teach music in a way that is inspiring and method-driven — a lasting advantage whether you enter academia or build a private studio
Also Included
Paid work-study.
Real-world experience, built in.
The two skills you develop in this mastermind — deep musicianship and music theory — are exactly the skills CelloSchool needs from its team. Students who complete the mastermind are eligible for paid positions within CelloSchool as a Music Theory TA and a Cello Practice Tutor.
This isn't a bonus tacked on as an incentive. It's a direct extension of the work: the surest way to deepen what you've learned is to teach it.
Paid Position
CelloSchool Work-Study Opportunities
Music Theory TA and Cello Practice Tutor roles available to mastermind graduates. Gain real teaching experience, an income stream, and a professional credit — while you're still completing your degree.
Your voice is already in there.
Let's find it.
9 weeks. A framework. Powerful Practice strategies. And a career advantage that compounds for years. Enrollment is limited to keep coaching personal and sessions focused.
APPLY FOR THE MASTERMIND