Translations: Español, Português
So what does it mean for the SAA to be the Suzuki Association of the Americas, plural? When the SAA was established in 1972, it was charged with the responsibility to care for and nurture the development of the Suzuki method in all of North and South America, which includes Canada, the United States and all of the countries in Central and South America! This is a huge territory and involves people speaking four different languages: English, Spanish,…
Last summer, focus groups at summer Institutes were asked to submit questions for a panel of “Suzuki Experts” to answer. Here are the first two:
How do we help our students learn to read music without deterioration of their technique?
First of all, teachers need to be sure that a student’s posture and technique are well set and secure before introducing a music reading method book. There are a lot of pre-reading exercises and activities that can prepare a student for reading, in much the same way that language reading is prepared before language reading is formally taught.…
Read more of Ask the Experts #1: Note Reading and Spanish Books »
ASJ 36.4, page 58
After being in sunny, warm Lima, Peru, in January for the Suzuki Festival and returning to winter in the U.S., I was looking forward to more tropical weather in El Salvador three weeks later. And I was not disappointed. Not only was the weather and the countryside beautiful and agreeable, but I was also pleased to see that the Suzuki program is flourishing and growing in this small Central American country. This was the fourth Festival in El Salvador, as they are programmed to happen every other year. Julio Rodriguez, the president of the Suzuki Association of El Salvador, along with his team of parents and teachers, put together a great event for all the participants.
ASJ 35.3, page 60
It is amazing what can happen in a country when a whole team of violinists decides to work together for the happiness and growth of the children. I have been honored to be a part of this kind of work in Bogotá, Colombia. In June I taught a great team of violinists for the eighth year in a row. There were 18 teachers enrolled in the Book 7 Teacher Workshop Course, and they all worked hard to master this level of playing and teaching. In the Latin American courses, the teachers play the whole book for the trainer in order to register the course, and almost all of them did this for me. The ones who didn’t will send me a videotape or play next year. There were two teachers who played Book 6 after taking that course last year. So everyone continues at their own pace, as prescribed by Dr. Suzuki, and we keep working toward common goals knowing that we will all get there.
Este año, la ciudad de Lima fue anfitriona del III Encuentro de Profesores de América Latina organizado por Roberta Centurion y Caroline Fraser. El crecimiento y desarrollo de estos Encuentros ha sido fenomenal. El Primer Encuentro se llevó a cabo en 1999 y el Segundo en el 2002. Este año tuvimos que cambiar de hotel a último minuto porque más y más gente se inscribía y no cabíamos ni siquiera en el salón más grande del hotel que habíamos escogido inicialmente. Con más de 100 participantes, 15 países estuvieron representados, muchos de los cuales asistieron por primera vez. Países como…
Read more of El 3er Encuentro de Profesores de America Latina »
This year Lima hosted the Third Latin American Suzuki Teachers Conference, directed by Roberta Centurion and Caroline Fraser. The growth and development of these Encuentros has also been phenomenal. The first Encuentro was held in 1999 and the second in 2002. This time we felt the need to change hotels at the last minute because more and more people wanted to come, and we were still crowded in the bigger meeting rooms! There were 15 countries represented, several for the very first time and over 100 people in attendance. A few of these countries have had Suzuki programs for more…
ASJ 30.1, page 80
ASJ 28.1, page 18
Several months have passed since the first SAA conference of Latin American Suzuki teachers (also known as PEPSAL—Primer Encuentro de Profesores Suzuki de America Latina). Most of you probably saw the wonderful photos and read the words of many of the teachers who were there, published in the last Journal. We really appreciate the extensive coverage of this event.
So what actually happened? What did we learn? What decisions were made? What are some results we can expect? I’d like to share some of this with you, because this really was a significant event for everyone who participated and…
ASJ 27.3, page 22
The January ‘98 Suzuki Festival in Lima, Peru, brought together students and teachers of violin, cello, guitar, piano and recorder. The pace was intense for the teachers, many of whom taught eight to nine hours each day. The final concert was excellent and there were many indications that the programs are growing in strength and quality. At the end of the Festival, the Suzuki Association of Peru met. There was firm resolve to increase efforts to raise funds and begin planning for next year’s Festival, which is scheduled for January 11-16, 1999. It is a time…
On January 1st, violinist/violist Dee Martz, guitarist Alan Johnston and I met in the Chicago airport on the first leg of our journey to Peru and then Chile for the Latin American Suzuki Festivals. In Miami, we connected with pianist Caroline Fraser and then finally had the whole North American contingent together in Lima, early in the morning on January 2nd! Caroline was joined by two other pianists, Bruce Anderson and Doris Koppelman, and our violin team was augmented by Craig Timmerman in Chile. Tanya Carey also joined us in Chile, working with Peruvian and Chilean cellists, before going on…
Plans for the South American Summer Suzuki Festivals are going well. The dates for the Festival in Lima, Peru, are January 3rd to January 10th and the Festival in Santiago, Chile, will take place from January 13th to 20th. These teachers are going to Peru: Marilyn O’Boyle and Dee Martz, violin; Caroline Fraser, Doris Koppelman and Bruce Anderson, piano; and Alan Johnston, guitar. Teachers from Lima and Santiago will also teach at that Festival. This group will be joined by several others for the Chilean Festival: Craig Timmerman, violin; Tanya Carey, cello; and June Warhoftig; flute. Both Festivals will offer…
A wonderful opportunity to experience the international aspect of Suzuki study in your local program or area association! As the SAA Liaison to Latin American Countries, I have talked to many SAA members who would like to be able to help the programs in Latin America. It has been challenging for everyone to find ways to do so, because of distance and communication difficulties.
In talking about this with several of you, a new idea was born which has many great possibilities for success. The idea is to have state, local and provincial Suzuki associations “adopt” a Latin American country and…
On September 26 and 27, 1992, I was in Austin, Texas, and I spent an hour with my former student, Manuel Bravo, listening to him play and talking about his new life here in Austin. I also used the opportunity to find out a few details about him that might be of interest to other people. Manuel started his violin lessons with me at the age of 7, in Lima, Peru, while I was there teaching for two years. When I left, he continued with Caroline Blondet-Fraser, whom I had trained in Suzuki Violin Pedagogy. (She is also an excellent…
This report is a composite of information from Suzuki programs in Peru, Chile and Bolivia. Marilyn O’Boyle, South American Liaison for the Suzuki Association of the Americas, and Roberta Centurion provided the information from Chile and Peru. Martha Shackford contributed the data on Bolivia. Ten Latin American countries currently have members in SAA, and members anywhere in the western hemisphere are encouraged to send information and articles on Suzuki activities in their countries to the American Suzuki Journal for publication.
The Suzuki Association of Peru, founded in 1982 by Marilyn O’Boyle and Caroline Blondet-Fraser, is one of the oldest and…
Here I am in the southern hemisphere again! Our family enjoyed living and working in Lima, Peru for two years (1984-86) where I started a Suzuki program and trained teachers and my husband started a band program at the American School. So we were very interested when our former superintendent moved to Santiago, Chile and wanted to hire us both to teach at Nido de Aguilas, the American School there. We decided to take the big step, this time with nothing held back. We resigned our positions at the University of Nebraska and we’re going to be here for many…
ASJ 14.5, page 14
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