Rick Mooney, Music For Cello

Rick Mooney grew up in a musical family where he began studying piano at age 5 and cello at age 8. He studied both instruments until high school graduation when he decided to concentrate on the cello while he took a degree in mathematics at USC. His early cello studies were taken with Victoria Bettencourt and Victor Sazer. He studied with Gabor Rejto and Eleanore Schoenfeld while attending USC. He studied Suzuki teaching methods at USC with Phyllis Glass and studied in Japan in the spring of 1976. Mr. Mooney teaches cello privately at three schools in the Los Angeles area. He has also performed as soloist with the Claremont Community Orchestra and the Claremont Chamber Orchestra.

Mr. Mooney is the founder and director of the National Cello Institute which has held a week-long session each summer since 1976. The National Cello Institute also holds an annual Winter Suzuki Cello Workshop.

As a specialist in the Suzuki method of teaching, he has been active with the Suzuki Association of the Americas, serving on the Board of Directors, on the Cello Committee, and writing for the American Suzuki Journal. He has been invited to teach at many institutes, conferences, and workshops throughout the United States, Canada, England, and Australia.