Private Lessons

for violin and viola, based in orlando, fl
my philosophy

Teaching to me means giving my students the knowledge and skills to help themselves get better each day. My end goal is for my students to become well rounded musicians and to take their knowledge from lessons and performance experiences through life.

Violinist Ilana Zaks holding a violin, standing next to a yellow and blue background.

Study with Ilana Zaks

Ilana Zaks teaches advanced beginner, intermediate, and advanced students at her studio in Orlando, FL. She also serves on the faculty at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute in Western Massachusetts and the Rollins Community School of Music in Central Florida.

Whether you have a specific goal, such as preparing for an audition, or are simply trying to move your practice forward, Ilana’s lessons bring a wide variety of teaching approaches specifically suited to each student. These include aural, verbal and visual techniques.

The majority of improvement comes from the student’s own dedication and practice habits. Through these focuses, Ilana hopes to give her students the knowledge and skill they need to teach themselves, and to develop a lifelong love for music.

Virtual lessons available!

What people are saying

  • “[He] has made a huge amount of progress under your tutelage (just recently he was assigned the first chair of the second violins in his orchestra), and as importantly, has developed enough self-motivation that I no longer need to monitor his practicing.  Now, if only he put in the same energy at school - he's doing well but doesn't have the same passion!”

    — Parent of a private violin student

  • "Ilana gave a private lesson to one of my students on the Beethoven Romance and Mozart D Major Concerto. I watched videos from this lesson and once again, Ilana was wonderfully sensitive to the student and gave really helpful technical advice on scales, shifting tone production, and vibrato."

    — Tracy Helming, Momentum Music School

I have studied with some of the best teachers in the world and am eager to pass this knowledge and love of music to my students!

Past teachers

  • Donald Weilerstein

  • Itzhak Perlman

  • Li Lin

  • David Kim

  • Merry Peckham

  • Ian Swensen

  • Frank Huang

  • Alexander Velinzon

  • Ani Kavafian

  • Jorga Fleezanis

  • Hankus Netsky

  • Erin Keefe

  • Kim Kashkashian

Past chamber music coaches

  • Merry Peckham

  • Astrid Shween

  • Boris Berman

  • The (original) Cleveland Quartet and Borromeo Quartet

  • Raphael Merlin- Quattro Ebene

  • The Juilliard String Quartet

  • The Emerson Quartet

Inquire about private lessons

Violinist Ilana Zaks wearing a colorful, patterned sleeveless dress, smiling, and holding a violin extended toward the camera in an outdoor setting.