Recently I had the honor of being invited to participate in a Summit on the future of string teaching and playing in America. The Summit was hosted by ASTA and took place in Dallas during the ASTA with NSOA National String Forum and Festival.

I went a couple of days early so I could take part in some of the Forum sessions. When I arrived a lively Alternative Styles Forum was in full swing and I sat in on several “hands-on” sessions on jazz, fiddling and improvisation. The next day a Studio Teachers’ Forum opened with sessions on aspects of string pedagogy at all levels.

I was delighted to see a profound “Suzuki influence” throughout the Forum sessions. Several of our SAA member colleagues were coordinators and presenters in the Studio Teachers’ Forum. Many of the sessions were similar to what you might find at a Suzuki workshop or summer institute. The Forum opened with a plenary session entitled “Unleashing Talent” presented by recording artist and guitar professor Ricardo Iznaola, whose ideas about “achieving artistic success with every student” were congruent with everything Suzuki education stands for. The sessions were met with an enthusiastic response from an audience comprised primarily of “traditional” teachers.

Among the presenters at the Alternative Styles Forum were professional performers who openly credited their Suzuki backgrounds with giving them skills they use in their daily work. I also met so-called “traditional” teachers who were in the process of discovering that Suzuki education was a good fit with their musical and pedagogical values.

The Summit was a fascinating six-hour meeting with 20 leaders in music education, performance, business and industry. Again, it was interesting to learn just how many of us in the group had some Suzuki in our backgrounds. Several were parents of Suzuki students. At least two were former Suzuki teachers who were now working in other sectors related to business or labor relations.

We were charged with answering two questions: “What are the two biggest challenges facing string playing and teaching in America?” and “What can ASTA do to meet those challenges?” Interestingly, the answers, arrived at by informal consensus in the group, showed some areas of common interest with priorities developed by SAA’s board in its “Ends” policy statements, especially the need to increase the number of qualified teachers, and to proliferate programs that meet the needs of all children. It made me wonder what might come out of ASTA and SAA (and perhaps other music education associations as well) spending time talking together about some of the values and goals we all share in common.

When I first started my Suzuki teacher training, it was common to list all of the ways in which “Suzuki” teaching was different from “traditional” teaching. The list always began with the premise that is so close to every Suzuki teacher’s heart—“Every child can learn” and went on to cover the many aspects philosophy and pedagogy that were unique to Suzuki. The list always included something about early start, child-parent-teacher “triangle,” nurturing with love, priority of ear development, emphasis on posture and tone, to name just a few.

My time in Dallas made me realize that Suzuki education is becoming more and more a part of the mainstream of modern music education. It made me wonder if perhaps the list of differences might be getting shorter. Maybe one day “Every child can learn” won’t even need to be on that list at all, because it no longer separates “Suzuki” and “traditional” music education. When that happens, we will all together have moved a bit closer to realizing Dr. Suzuki’s ideal “for the happiness of all children.”