Paul Kantor

Mr. Paul Kantor, professor of violin at CIM (The Cleveland Institute of Music) is a beloved violin teacher, one of the best ones there. CIM’s slogan is; “By any measure, exceptional.” Mr. Kantor plays a great part in making this true for the conservatory. He has been teaching at the University of Michigan lately, and has sacrificed a lot to move to Cleveland to teach students from all over the world. Next year, he will move to Cleveland permanently. Some of his Michigan students like him so much that they will follow him to Cleveland and study with him at CIM. He has taught many incredible professional teachers and performers, and is still teaching talented students. He studied with Margaret Graves, Dorothy DeLay, and Robert Mann, some very famous teachers of the past.

Mr. Kantor inspires his students so much with all of his lessons and principles. He not only teaches them how to play violin, but how to teach other people. This could come in handy in so many ways. These are life skills, not just music skills. He is also a world-renowned teacher whom many people would love to be taught by. He is best friends with musical superstars, and is one himself. There was once an article done on him in Strings Magazine in August/September 2000, Volume XV, Number 2, Issue 88. It is titled: “Mindful Mentor Paul Kantor”. It is titled this because of the very different ways he teaches people. Instead of telling a student to change a fingering or some other aspect of the music, he will ask, “Why do you keep missing that shift?” or “Why are you using those fingerings?” Asking questions makes students think for themselves about what they are doing.

I think Mr. Kantor thinks more about how he can teach students and in how many different ways he can bridge the gap between student and professional for them. He also cares about their personal lives and what else is going on in their lives besides just violin.