““Caroline Giassi presented a series of master classes for advanced college music majors in addition to a spectacular recital at the Butler School of Music. Her pedagogy was insightful and sophisticated; the students reacted very positively to her warm, engaging demeanor. She pushed them, but in a way that was encouraging and supportive. Caroline’s recital was beyond inspiring in its musical depth and level of refinement. The entire oboe studio was left feeling buoyed by her ability to speak the language of music so fluently, particularly on the Baroque oboe, an instrument to which they had limited exposure. Within the short period of two days, Caroline brought an immeasurable amount of excitement and motivation to the oboe studio here at the university of Texas at Austin. I look forward to having her back, hopefully for a longer period of time!” ”
As an educator, Caroline has experience teaching students of all ages and abilities as well as working in a variety of educational environments from summer camps to universities. Having benefited very early on from great teachers, Caroline approaches teaching as a wonderful responsibility and focuses on instilling in her students not only solid fundamentals and a strong work ethic, but also a love for the skills they are developing.
Caroline’s first experience teaching was as a waterfront instructor for a camp that brought inner city students to Long Island for a chance to be in nature and out of their usual closed, urban environment. She took many students (most taller and older than she was) out in open water for their first time and taught them to float, swim, sail, and, most importantly, be comfortable in this new surrounding. Since this first teaching venture, Caroline has worked as a private instructor, chamber music coach, classroom music instructor, and as a guest teacher at universities around the country. While teaching music is, admittedly, different than learning to swim, for many students it can be equally unfamiliar territory and each student will approach the challenges differently.
Though she initially thought classroom music would not be part of her career, Caroline quickly realized she was mistaken when she began teaching instrumental and ensemble lessons in the New Haven public school system as a teaching artist through Yale’s Music in School’s Initiative. The chance to work with students in their school environments and watch them learn as a group was incredibly rewarding and Caroline was grateful to be able to continue classroom teaching in New York City, this time focused on music appreciation, as a Morse Teaching Artist while studying at The Juilliard School. Since graduating, she has continued teaching in the New York City public schools as a teaching artist with S’Cool Sounds (SCS). As an SCS teaching artist, Caroline has worked with 2nd through 6th grade students teaching them recorder and percussion as a means of learning to play as an ensemble (for more insight into the amazing work SCS does as an organization please look at their website).
Outside the classroom, Caroline has been on faculty at Luzerne Music Center and is a Continuing Guest Artist of Baroque oboe and Early Music at The University of Michigan. She has also taught private lessons to undergraduate and graduate non-music majors at Yale University. As part of an ongoing effort to open young oboist’s eyes to the beauty of the Baroque oboe and the world of historical performance, Caroline enjoys giving workshops and masterclasses with oboe studios at a variety of universities. She has had the pleasure of working with oboe students at Bowling Green State University, University of Texas at Austin, and Mansfield University and very much looks forward to upcoming trips to University of Kansas-Lawrence, University of Missouri- Kansas City, and Louisiana State University - Baton Rouge.
In addition to teaching oboe and music lessons, Caroline also enjoys working with students on writing and speaking skills. She was a tutor at The Juilliard School’s writing center where she worked with native and non-native speakers on assignments ranging from freshman writing projects to doctoral thesis and personal statements.