Ilona Grushynska
About
Professional cello teacher with 20 years of experience — supportive, flexible, and result-oriented, offering online lessons from complete beginners to advanced students.
A key part of my teaching focuses on CELLO TECHNIQUE, POSTURE, and MOTIVATION. I guide students in understanding how their body works while playing, ensuring correct posture and technique to play with ease, confidence, and prevent injury. I also use my knowledge of how the brain learns new skills to boost motivation and make the learning process both enjoyable and effective.
I work with children and adults, from complete beginners to advanced students preparing for entrance exams to conservatoires. I specialize in preparing students for auditions and exams such as ABRSM, RCM, and AMEB, with many of my students earning scholarships to their top-choice universities.
My goal is to teach you or your child how to practice effectively to achieve successful results. The most important component of progress is not just practice but effective practice, and I will always remind you to "Play with thinking!"
My current students range in age from 8 to 68 and come from all over the world. Some learn the cello for personal growth, others for general development, and several are preparing to enter music colleges and conservatories.
I also teach music theory, ranging from beginner levels to advanced jazz harmony.
I am the founder of celloandfriends.com, a platform where I offer personalized lessons and share insights to help students grow.
Please don’t hesitate to ask me any questions you might have!
Teaching Style
Before you begin learning the cello with me, you should understand two important concepts: when you play the cello, you use your body (arms, fingers) to create sound, and you use your soul and emotions to create music. We'll start by learning how to make sounds, which you'll later use to express your emotions.
I speak English and Ukrainian.
Curriculum
My teaching method is personalized to each of my students. The best it is described in my students' testimonials.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
"... I highly recommend Ilona for cello teaching. She is a talented musician and a gifted teacher, I am forever grateful and thankful that my cello teacher is Ilona. Sincerely, Toola"
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
"We were blessed to find Ilona as a cello teacher for our daughter. ... My daughter been taking lessons for over a year now and she learnt so much with Ilona, she even got into Gifted and Talented program for children all thanks to Ilona and her lessons. ..."
Lisa
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
"Perfect! I have been thoroughly impressed and delighted by how effective it has been for Ilona to guide me remotely through my first steps as an adult learner. Her knowledge and skill on the Cello is evident, but what I didn't expect was her enthusiasm and talent for finding out my unique learning style and catering the lessons to maximum effectiveness for me. In a number of weeks I've been amazed at how she has been able to progress me from not knowing how to hold the instrument to playing with multiple positions and techniques already. ..."
Brett
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
"Amazing energetic and inspirational cello class. If you want to get the fudamentals right - bow hold, posture, left hand position, elbow and shoulders etc. - Ilona is spot on."
Axel
Credentials & Affiliations
As an orchestral member I performed in the best concert halls in Europe. Such as: Konzerthaus Berlin (Germany), Musikverein Wien (Austria), Konserthuset Stockholm (Sweden), DR Koncerthuset (Copenhagen, Denmark), Musiikkitalo (Helsinki, Finland), Palau de la Música Catalana (Barselona, Spain), Gewandhaus zu Leipzig (Germany), Victoria Hall (Geneva, Swirzerland), Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre (Swirzerland), Queen Elisabeth Hall (Antwerpen, Belgium), Philharmonie Luxembourg, Alte Oper Frankfurt (Germany), Palais de la musique et des congrès (Strasbourg, France), Oslo Concert Hall (Norway), Tonhalle Düsseldorf (Germany), Theater und Philharmonie Essen (Germany), Konzerthaus Dortmund (Germany), Hercules Hall (Munich, Germany), etc.
I am a certified art therapist. I passed the program and successfully defended the qualification work to the program "Theory and practice of art-therapy" by UKRAINIAN ASSOCIATION OF ART THERAPISTS and INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF PSYCHOLOGY (Ukraine) (150 academic hours; June 3,, 2023 - November 18, 2023)
I am a certified art coach. I completed the course and successfully passed the test from the advanced training program "ART-COACHING" by INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF PSYCHOLOGY (Ukraine) (December, 2023)
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Teaching platform “Cello and friends” – Owner, Cello Teacher, Music Theory Teacher (2021-present)
Private Cello and Music Theory Classes (2005-present)
TH School Hoa Lac (Hanoi, Vietnam) – Cello Teacher (2019-2020)
Casa dei Bambini Montessori Preschool (Hanoi, Vietnam) – Music Teacher for children 1-6 y.o. (2019-2020)
FPT University Hoa Lac Campus, Little UK Hanoi (English program) – Music and Activity Teacher (2018-2019)
The Summer Workshop for students who play string instruments Lessing-Gymnasium Neu-Ulm (Neu-Ulm, Germany) (May 2017, June 2018)
Special Music School no.1 (Zhytomyr, Ukraine) – Cello Teacher (2005 – 2007)
I've been working online since 2015.
ORCHESTRAL EXPERIENCE
Sun Symphony Orchestra – Guest Musician (2018 - 2019)
K&K Philharmoniker – Assistant Principal (2nd chair) (2016 - 2018)
K&K Philharmoniker – Tutti (2011 - 2016)
Kyiv Symphony Orchestra – Tutti (2010 - 2011)
- tour on the East Coast of USA
Kyiv Fantastic Orchestra – Assistant Principal (2nd chair) (2008-2009)
- incl. tour to Spain
