Energize Your Teaching with the New Suzuki Piano Books 1-3

Cleo Ann Brimhall resides in Salt Lake City Utah where she teaches students and trains teachers in her private studio. Cleo holds an MM degree from the UofN and studied with Dr. Suzuki and Dr. Kataoka. As a teacher trainer with the SAA, she travels internationally as a clinician and lecturer. She has served as Institute Director and on Suzuki Boards nationally and locally. Her students have participated in Suzuki conferences and performed in 10 Piano concerts worldwide. Several former students have completed University Degrees in piano performance and returned to her to be trained as Suzuki Piano Teachers.

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Doris Koppelman is a pioneer in the Suzuki piano movement who has been teaching Suzuki piano teachers and students throughout the world for more than 30 years. She is the author of the book “Introducing Suzuki Piano” as well as a contributor to “Teaching Suzuki Piano”. Ms. Koppelman is a registered teacher trainer and is the recipient of the SAA Outstanding Teacher Award and Distinguished Service Award. She has been a member of the SAA and has been awarded Honorary Life Membership by the International Suzuki Association. She is active in the musical life of San Diego.

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E.L. Lancaster brings a variety of teaching experiences to his position as Vice President/Keyboard Editor-in-Chief of Alfred Publishing Company. From 1979 to 1998 he was on the faculty of the University of Oklahoma, Norman where he taught courses in piano pedagogy and coordinated the group piano program. Lancaster established the masters and doctoral programs in piano pedagogy at the University of Oklahoma in 1980. During his tenure there, he served as major professor for over fifty doctoral dissertations in the field of piano pedagogy. His students serve on faculties of colleges and universities and operate independent piano studios throughout the country. Simultaneously, he taught pre-college students in the Piano Pedagogy Laboratory Program combining group and private instruction. In addition, he and his wife, Gayle Kowalchyk, operated a large independent piano studio in Norman, Oklahoma from 1981 until 1996.

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Gail Lange is a Suzuki Piano teacher in Guelph, Ontario. A teacher trainer since 1984, Gail studied four months in Japan with Dr. Suzuki and Haruko Kataoka. Always inspired by the spirit of sharing in the Suzuki community, Gail has continued to observe and work with outstanding teachers. Her teacher training program and her studio reflect these experiences and expertise. Past-Chair of the Suzuki Association of Ontario, and former Piano Director of the Southwestern Ontario Suzuki Institute, Gail has also served on the SAA Board, was Piano Coordinator of the 2008 Conference. Currently, she is on the SPA committee, the Teacher Development Committee and has coordinated the revisions of the Piano Syllabus. In 2005 Gail was awarded the Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Medal by the Canadian government for her contributions to music education.

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Mary Craig Powell currently teaches piano in her home studio in Columbus, Ohio. Retired from the Conservatory of Music faculty of Capital University, she has taught piano at both the college and preparatory levels. Her reputation as a Suzuki teacher has grown to international proportions and has given her extensive invitations throughout the world to train teachers and teach children. Her young students are consistent winners in auditions and competitions. Ms. Powell has written a book entitled Focus on Suzuki Piano and contributed to another book entitled Teaching Suzuki Piano. Currently she serves as the co-chairman of the International Suzuki Piano Committee, which has recently finished revising and re-editing all the Suzuki piano books. In recognition of her contribution to Suzuki instruction, she has received the “Excellence in Teaching” Award and the “Excellence in Suzuki Teacher Education” award from the SAA as well as the “Distinguished Alumna” Award from East Carolina University, her alma mater. As an active member of Music Teachers’ National Conference, she has been named the “State Certified Piano Teacher of the Year” by the Ohio Music Teachers’ Association.

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Renée Robbins maintains an active piano studio in Ann Arbor, where she teaches piano students of all ages, trains other Suzuki teachers and performs chamber music, performing with a variety of other musicians in many settings. In the fall of 2010 she organized a playathon fundraiser for the music program of the New Victorian School in Port au Prince, Haiti. The following fall she was thrilled to perform a pair of fundraising recitals with the blind, Julliard-trained violinist director of that school. She holds a B.A. from the Eastman School of Music in piano performance, an M.S.W. in social treatment from the University of Michigan and an M.A. from Eastern Michigan University in piano accompaniment. Renée has studied piano with José Échaniz and Joseph Gurt. Her two sons, both grown, were Suzuki violin students and now her grandchildren are continuing the tradition!

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