Jaime R. Gould
Violist · Instructor · Freelance Performer
When I was about five, my grandmother showed me the violin she had played as a child. It was too large for me to hold, so she set the instrument on the bed and let me rock the bow back and forth over the strings. I remember looking at the fingerboard and marveling that anyone could possibly know where to put their fingers. Eventually the violin went back into its case, and I didn’t think about it again until fourth grade.
The middle school orchestra toured our school one day, making the rounds of the local elementary schools. We gathered in the gym and listened as students only a few years older than us played orchestral instruments, and afterward we were invited up to try one for ourselves. I did — and went home that evening begging for permission to join orchestra the following year. I chose the viola, and gave up recess my fifth-grade year to attend rehearsals in the school library.
Everything about learning a new instrument was exciting: the comforting scent of the wood, the shiny cake of new rosin, the music spelled out in letters on colorful paper, even the way my fingers ached after fighting with the latches on my case. It was my first experience playing in an orchestral setting, and I was hooked.
As the years went on, orchestra became the one place I felt I could truly communicate. I was a classic introverted child, but with the viola in my hands, I had so much to say — I learned to speak fluently, in styles, moods, and colors. Without fully understanding it at the time, I was taking part in what I now know is the most basic and beautiful form of human communication.
I became a music educator to share that wonder. Creating a musical connection with a student, and watching their own wonder and growth unfold, remains a deeply rewarding experience. My work with students from all walks of life has only confirmed what I believe: that anyone with the desire to study music has the capacity to learn it, regardless of prior experience.
Violist Jaime Gould has been an instructor and freelance performer for over 25 years. She has performed with the Binghamton Philharmonic, the Tri-Cities Opera, and the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes. An early music enthusiast, she has also performed as a member of Cornell University’s early music ensemble, Le Petit Violons, as a baroque violist, and currently studies the bass viol and viola d’amore. Drawn to “unusual” string instruments more broadly, she has also performed as a member of the Albert Consort as an alto violinist.
Jaime has served as an adjunct lecturer in viola at Ithaca College, was on the faculty of the Ithaca Community School of Music and Arts as well as the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts, where she taught viola and violin. She also maintains a private home studio.
She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and Viola Performance, and a Master of Music degree in Viola Performance, both from Ithaca College.
