of the audience are the guests you invite into your house. You give them the gift of the performance.... The idea is that it's important to get the piece across well so that the people can enjoy it more. The fun of it is the fun of sharing something you can do well." Berkovich also stressed the importance of a positive learning environment. Interviewed in the Baltimore Sun, she said, "I know many children who are very gifted. But if the children are not taught how to organize themselves, how to work, how to be goal-oriented, then their talent does not become realized." And she paid close attention to the capacity of her students. Describing her work with Hilary Hahn, she told the Sun, "'She was 5 when I met her.... She played me a song with four lines that was a minute and a half long. Five and a half years later, she played a solo recital with a program that took more than an hour... Hilary has the gift of nature. She is musical. And she is a bright child, always with a book... Well-organized with a long span of concentration. Diligent. I never told her two times the same thing. Whatever I told her, it was done for the next lesson, sometimes with extra.... And when she was progressing so fast, I would tell her parents, 'I'm afraid to push too much, she's still 6, 7! Doesn't she complain it's too hard for her?' But it was never too much. I cannot say she was ever overworked." Later years In the United States, Mrs. Berkovich's reputation as a teacher grew quickly, supported both by the playing of her students and by her clear and musical way of teaching in repertoire and master classes throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. In May 1989, she was named "String Teacher of the Year" by the Maryland/D.C. chapter of the American String Teachers Association. In 1990 Klara Berkovich retired from teaching at the Baltimore Talent Education Center, and in 1992 she retired from the Peabody Preparatory. She maintained a small private studio of students well into her 80s. References 1928 births American classical violinists Living people Soviet musicians Musicians from Odesa Odesa Jews Soviet emigrants to the United States Women classical violinists 21st-century classical violinists 21st-century American women musicians 21st-century American violinists