Goldilocks Cello

C's been taking cello lessons for a little over a year. She has made a lot of progress and she has good "chemistry" with her teacher - very important when it comes to 1:1 music lessons. Unfortunately, her teacher is moving to another state. So... I am searching for a new cello teacher. And it is proving surprisingly hard.

Her current teacher wasn't able to recommend anyone else. We've got a few names from E's violin teacher and a local luthier. I also have an old list from the middle school orchestra teacher that we got when we were looking for a cello teacher the first time around. That time, we got M's (teacher's) name from 3 separate sources and after exchanging a couple of emails it seemed like a good fit - and it was. We never talked to anyone else.

This time... I don't know, it just seems more tricky compared with my previous experiences of finding violin/piano/cello teachers. 

One person never got back to me.

One person seems nice and kind, but she comes to your home to give the lesson (this may not work all that well for us...), her only open day is when C has swimming, and teaching cello is not her main occupation but more of a side thing. Plus, she does not do any recitals with her students. And she is a Suzuki teacher (that may be perfect for very young kids but not for C). Her hourly rate is reasonable. I am keeping her name as a possibility, but I don't think this would be an ideal match.

Another person that was recommended is a full-time cello teacher and seems pretty intense. My sense is, he is best for older kids who are intensely into music and may be considering careers as professional musicians. He charges substantially more than what we typically pay for private music lessons. I don't think this would be an ideal match, either. 

We need something in the middle.

I still have 4 more people to call... 

So hopefully one of them will be "just right".

Do you or your kids take music lessons? How did you find your teacher?