Daphne is a teacher of both Suzuki and traditional violin, and has been teaching for the past twenty years. She has taught privately in Athens, London, and Bristol, at various music conservatories in Athens, the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music in London, St Catherine’s British School in Athens, South Shore Conservatory in Boston, MA and École FACE in Montreal.
Daphne also enjoys coaching ensembles, and has worked with the South Shore Conservatory Youth Orchestra (SSCYO). In 2012 she coached and directed the inaugural concert of the Athens Youth Symphony Orchestra’s Baroque Consortium (ASON) at the Goethe Institute in Athens.
Learning a musical instrument can be an equally exciting and daunting journey. Having gone through ups and downs herself throughout her own musical career, she values the need to have a constant love of music and a nurturing, supportive teacher. Daphne’s aim is to create a solid technical foundation in all her students, regardless of their age, and create a challenging yet supportive environment. Being a Suzuki kid herself, she loves having come full circle, and sharing the principles of the Method with both Suzuki and traditional students.
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“I knew Daphne and I were going to have fun and go places with my music within 2–3 lessons. I had been with my prior instructor for 8 years, and for personal reasons, she was unable to continue with me. While switching teachers during my junior year of high school can introduce great stress and anxiety, I found myself at ease with Daphne’s perfect balance between focused calm and making clear strides in technique and style.
Before Daphne, I found myself in a rut — I had taken many trial lessons with other teachers who I just hadn’t clicked with, I was getting bored with the music I was practicing, and I was beginning to question overall whether I should even continue private lessons. However, I was able to fall back in love with both the pieces I was playing and the instrument when Daphne introduced me to a whole new world of violin with baroque music. We’d practice baroque pieces just for the fun of it, often extending our lessons a little longer, and on many occasions, she would even let me play with her nice, delicate baroque bow and violin. Along with this and the fact that both her character and teaching style portray genuineness, passion, respect, kindness, and humour, I knew I would stay with Daphne for the rest of my high school career.
My favourite thing about her is her dedicated effort to establish a true friendship between us beyond our teacher-student relationship. Knowing that I was going off to college soon, she would invite me out to lunch and to casually practice more early music with her in an effort to get to know each other on a deeper level.”
-Claire Haney
“Daphne is an incredible teacher. She has been teaching my son violin since he was 3, and now he is 6! She knows how to make the lessons fun and is an approachable, talented and caring teacher. Highly recommend!!”
-Amelia Haskell
“My daughter took violin lessons from Daphne for a year, and she was, by far, the best teacher my daughter has ever had. On top of being a very talented violinist, Daphne is a very skilled teacher. She was able to incorporate many things, like theory and technique, into lessons to give Meredith a very well-rounded musical education.
Along with the technical aspects of violin, Daphne made sure she learned to play with the correct technique, and if she learned something wrong, she spent time working with her until she was able to correct her mistakes. She encouraged my daughter to explore the musical aspects of every piece and customized the music and lessons to my daughter’s current skill level while at the same time providing challenges to keep the learning process going.
My daughter improved tremendously under Daphne’s guidance. We are so grateful to have had her as a teacher, and know she will make a great teacher for any future students.”
-Stefani Gellman
“Daphne was my son’s first violin teacher as he began Suzuki lessons at age five. Daphne is extremely patient and positive in her approach, helping to keep him engaged while working on the foundations of technique. Daphne has a special energy as a teacher and captures my son’s attention, making him excited to show her how he can tackle new challenges. In group lessons, Daphne makes learning fun. She creates an environment where the students look forward to playing their pieces together and playing games with musical ideas.
Daphne is enthusiastic and supportive while introducing the discipline of learning an instrument in a way that makes my son feel proud and motivated. As a practice parent, it is such a pleasure to work with Daphne and learn from her. Daphne has given us a great start on our violin journey!”
-Shay Garofalo
“Daphne donne des cours de violon à ma fille depuis bientôt un an. Elle est très à l'aise avec les enfants, et son approche d'enseignement est un bon équilibre entre douceur et discipline, patience et détermination.. Ma fille aime beaucoup Daphne. Elle a fait de beaux progrès au violon et elle continue à développer ses habiletés musicales tranquillement. Nous n'aurions pas pu trouver meilleure professeure de musique.”
-Hélène Montarou
“When our 4 year old daughter told us she wanted to play the violin, my wife and I were both excited and intimidated at the same time. How possibly could this little person whose favourite word was, “No!” learn to play the violin? Fortunately for us all, we met Daphne Manavopoulos. From the first day, Daphne not only bonded with my daughter but kept her attention way longer than I thought possible. She made each and every lesson super fun and continually challenged her in a way that made us both look forward to our next lesson so we could show off what we had been able to accomplish.
Daphne has a special blend of patience, caring and subtle firmness that’s critical when teaching young children how to play an instrument. I usually dread being asked to write recommendations. However, in this case I’m writing this completely unsolicited as a thank you to Daphne from both my daughter and myself for such an amazing first musical experience!”
-Jay Fleming
“Daphne is an impressive teacher and person. I could not imagine being responsible for teaching a five-year-old how to play such a delicate and complex instrument, but Daphne manages to make learning to play the violin fun and productive for my daughter. She is thoughtful, creative, patient, caring, and extremely talented. Being an excellent violinist is one thing; teaching young children requires a very different skill set. Our family adores Daphne for all that she has done for us.
She has taught my young daughter to play violin, has encouraged her to persist when things were difficult, has helped her have numerous public performances, and has taught her patience and determination. Daphne is one of those people who is warm and welcoming from the outset. I am very grateful that we have had her in our lives for the past 15 months, and we will miss her very much. I would highly recommend Daphne as a violin instructor.”
-Lorraine Dooley
“My daughter has been learning the violin with Daphne for almost two years, and she really enjoys the time she spends with her. Daphne is an excellent teacher and is very patient with the children. I also like the annual Christmas concert that she organizes every year, which gives the children the opportunity to perform on stage, it is a great motivation for them.”
-Judy Wang
“Daphnée est une professeure extraordinaire en plus d’être une violoniste de grand talent. Ma fille suit des leçons privées à domicile avec elle depuis un an et demi (elle avait 6 ans) et nous n’avons que du bien à dire à son sujet. Elle a une grande facilité d’approche avec les enfants, douce, patiente et drôle et les cours sont toujours très agréables et motivants.”
-Chantal-Andrée Morin
“In January, as a New Year's resolution, I decided to start learning the violin; a difficult task, given that I have no musical training, and negative experiences with trying to learn a musical instrument.
With that in mind, I wanted to find the best violin teacher I could; someone knowledgeable, experienced, (very) patient, and kind. Daphne is all that and more. She completely understands the needs of an adult violin learner, and she provides clear, constructive and motivating feedback.
On top of that, she is also friendly, and a beautiful presence to be around - something important to consider, since every teacher-student relationship should be rooted in trust and positivity in order to be fruitful.
Approachable, adaptive and professional, Daphne is an extraordinary teacher of an intimidating instrument that transforms learning into a beautiful experience. Children and adult learners are lucky to have her!
Thank you Daphne😊”
-Danae Nika