JAVS Fall 2007

While she works diligently ro provide sincere feedback ro her students, she does nor want her students caught in the trap of constantly seeking her approval. "After concerts, I have noticed that some of my students will come up ro me with a demeanor that shows that they are long ing for me ro say, 'You did really great! ' I have talked ro those people and said, ' Do nor wait for my approval , because you know if you played as well as you could right now or if you did nor quite reach up ro what you might have been able to do. Then again, if you did nor play as well as you had hoped you would, the world is still standing; tomorrow is another day.' This is a dangerous game: for students ro wait for a reacher's approval." She admits that the biggest reward for her as a reacher is to see her students flourish. "Once in a while, I have had very couching expressions of gratitude when people graduate. Some will write a lener; others wiU say something that shows that they believe that they came to the right teacher at this scage of their development." Ms. Westphal has had the opportunity to per form with former students who have since become colleagues. "To be on completely equal footing with a former student, like with [Volker Jacobsen of] the Artemis Quartet is really some thing special. Ar first I thought, 'How am I going ro feel?' I was nervous about it, but it felt nothing bur wonderful!" Recording Ms. Westphal has created a notable discography of important viola literature. I first became acquainted with her playing from her complete recording of the Bach Suites. I asked her about the recording process. "My relationship ro recording is not alrogether without irs problems. My first recordings were with my quartet years ago, srill before COs even came out. We recorded some Czech music, Dvorik and Suk, and it was beautiful music. It turned out that for a variety of reasons we did the editing ourselves. That was horrible because

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