Richard Aaron, Professor of Cello, Juilliard School, New York, NY, USA
A brilliant ear for music, relentless dedication, a true, unwavering passion, undeniable talent and, of course, an inspirational mentor: those are the key ingredients to becoming a successful musician. The cello students of Richard Aaron are fortunate enough to have all of them.
Though he makes his home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Aaron has traveled extensively, giving master classes in Spain, Germany, Korea, Japan and France. A sought-after professor, his students have won numerous national and international competitions and performed as soloists for prestigious orchestras across the United States.
Aaron began his foray into video when he met a family in Montana. The family has four children (all cello players) and was looking for a teacher that could give each child individual music instruction. Unfortunately, the rural city in which they lived offered few choices for private teachers, so the family was forced to find another way for the children to receive the musical education they desired.
The family found Aaron, a talented cello professor at the University of Michigan. It was impossible for them to travel to Ann Arbor for lessons, so the family purchased a legacy video system for Aaron’s office and their private residence. That way, the professor and students could meet face to face for their cello lessons. For years, Aaron taught the students over this piece of technology that was “good enough” to achieve the goal of instructing students over distance.
Several years later, Aaron was offered a position at Juilliard School, one of the most prestigious performing arts conservatories in the world. Aaron knew that he did not want to give up his teaching role in Michigan to move to New York, so he immediately requested video conferencing equipment to teach Juilliard cello students on the East Coast while remaining in his office in the Midwest. The now-outdated video system he owned was unable to display in high definition and was continuously plagued with bugs and technical issues. Aaron clearly needed a newer, more innovative system to provide the highest quality of instruction needed for these exceptional students.
To get him up-to-date with video technology, a LifeSize® Passport™ endpoint was placed in Aaron’s office in Michigan. His Juilliard students could dial-in for scheduled lessons over LifeSize systems in the school’s computer labs, or any other video conferencing practice rooms outfitted with third-party vendor technology at the school. Because LifeSize is open and interoperable with any standards-based video system, the quality produced is True 720p30 HD regardless of which system the students use.
With LifeSize technology, Aaron was now able to interact with students at the University of Michigan, as well as Juilliard School, without missing a beat.
Though Aaron still chooses to travel to New York during the 30-week school year, he estimates that he uses HD video technology about one third of time. He is hoping to get that number down to 50 percent travel and 50 percent video in the future.
“It’s unbelievable,” Aaron said. “I can teach all day in Michigan in my office and go home and have dinner with my family. It saves so much energy. Life is much better.”
"I really find no difference in teaching in person and teaching over video,” Aaron continued. “After a couple lessons, I find that my students have totally adapted to the technology. With my LifeSize HD video, coupled with Bose® speakers, the music looks and sounds great.”
Though LifeSize technology is extremely sophisticated in its design, it is intuitive enough to use on an everyday basis.
“I am the most low-tech human being; I can barely send an email,” said Aaron. “But I can use LifeSize because it’s fantastic. If I can use it, anyone can.”
He has even convinced a few of his colleagues to give HD video lessons a try. One particular Juilliard viola professor that lives in Florida was skeptical at first and felt that she needed to be in the same room with her students. After using HD video the first time, she was hooked.
Overall, Aaron and his students are thrilled with the exceptional quality of LifeSize technology and the benefits it brings to all of their lives. Now, instead of traveling, he can provide a phenomenal teaching experience to students and help them achieve their dreams over HD video.
“LifeSize is an incredible company and I love this machine. I could easily sell hundreds of these products,” he said. “My old video system is sitting under my piano collecting dust, it is dead. LifeSize is the future. If we could convince every music teacher and every music conservatory in the world to use it, it would be great.”
Click here to download a PDF of this case study.
Click here to download the PDF of this case study.
LifeSize® Passport™ is the ideal solution for small meeting rooms, individual offices, teleworkers and small to mid-sized businesses to scale cost-effective video collaboration. Read more