Rictor Noren (on leave in 2024)
Rictor Noren teaches violin, viola, chamber music, string fundamentals, and string pedagogy at the Boston Conservatory of Music. He also teaches at the New England Conservatory of Music Preparatory Division, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Prelude Music Academy, and New World Symphony. Additionally, he has taught at the National String Workshop, the Longy School of Music, the Crowden School, Rocky Ridge Music Center, the University of Wisconsin, University of Sapporo (Japan), and University of Istanbul (Turkey).
Mr. Noren works with pre-college and college students nationally and internationally to achieve practical and professional outcomes. His collaborative approach emphasizes balance, goal setting, efficient practice techniques, musical development, and a hands-on approach to training. His work supports students overcoming technical barriers, conquering physical pain, and developing a professional identity.
At the Boston Conservatory, Mr. Noren is coordinator of the newly offered Masters in String pedagogy program, an exciting program designed to prepare masters level students for a career in pedagogy.
With a commitment to string pedagogy, In 2010 Mr. Noren along with five of his graduate students formed the Noren String Institute, an organization that reaches younger students through daily classes and monthly masterclasses. The class is designed to give graduate and recently graduated students an opportunity to teach and develop their skills under Mr. Noren's direction. Graduate students are given weekly supervision to enhance their skill set.
Rictor Noren holds a B.M. from Indiana University, and an M.M. from the University of Wisconsin. He studied viola with Mimi Zweig and Abram Schernick, violin with Joseph Gingold and Yuval Yaron, and chamber music with Rostislav Dubinsky and Janos Starker. Mr. Noren has given recitals in North America, Europe, and Japan, and his orchestra engagements include Boston Symphony Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, New York String Orchestra, and the American Sinfonietta.
As a lecturer, Mr. Noren explores the intersection of classical music and greater human functioning.
“I begin with a presumption that our emotional lives are in great measure dictated by the things we expose ourselves to. Of course we listen to music for different reasons, but what we choose to listen to says a lot about what we value. Choosing music with intention brings us to greater understanding. What is the understanding, and why is this important?
In a culture where we are bombarded by sounds, when we acknowledge how music influences us, we are better equipped to make informed decisions. How we respond to different types of music and specific moments in music is part of my larger study into its manipulation of emotions. To that end, I invite the listener to explore moments in music of tenderness, triumph, resolve, and fear.
Approaching music as an aesthetic provides obvious rewards, however if we explore music power to manipulate emotions, a greater sense of understanding opens to the listener.”
Additionally, Mr. Noren writes a regular blog for the magazine, “Psychology Today,” and has just published his first novel “I, Carson.”