The sun is shining brightly as I sit and write this column. It is a week before Thanksgiving and although this holiday will be long over by the time you are reading this, I hope you will join me in giving thanks for the very special lives we have all encountered due to our original mentor, Shinichi Suzuki.

In early October, a very special event was held outside of Boston for Suzuki teacher trainers from all over the world. This was the first meeting of its kind and will become a part of Suzuki history. Teacher trainers were represented from all of the five regions which comprise the International Suzuki Association. In all, close to 175 trainers were in attendance for four days of lectures, panels and discussion. Since the conference was organized as a package, we ate most of our meals at the hotel, together with our international colleagues. Never in my life have I felt so strongly that I had indeed chosen the right career path to pursue than I did that weekend.

Every fall I feel I sense a huge, renewed infusion of the Suzuki Philosophy as I prepare for and lead the meeting for new parents who are about to embark upon this amazing journey with their children. I reread Nurtured by Love and surround myself with years’ worth of notes to try to capture the essence of all that the method entails. Since our initial meeting happened the last week of August, by the time I arrived at the trainers’ meeting, I was well into the fifth week of the semester. I was ready for some diversion and professional development. Getting ready to leave for four days is always challenging but at least for me, all I had to do was get in the car and drive for two hours.

To say that I was not prepared for what was about to unfold would be the biggest understatement of my life. Suddenly realizing that indeed Professor Koji Toyoda was coming with quite a few teachers from Japan, as well as many teachers from other parts of Asia, Australia and Europe, made me realize just how important this event was to all of our colleagues, even those who live half way around the world.

Beginning from the first session, my eyes got bigger and bigger as I heard the melody of our philosophy being sung with different words than those I had recently shared with our new community at Hartt. I felt like our students must feel at an Institute or workshop when their temporary teacher tells them the same thing their home teacher has been telling them but in a slightly different way. After 37 years of teaching, I was still learning and renewing the thoughts I have previously heard a million times. Was I hearing it differently this time? Has our concept of the Suzuki Philosophy morphed into something a bit different over the years? Did it take a historic gathering to bring us all back to our roots?

I would like to share with you some of the quotes that tugged at my heart and reminded me why I was drawn to this amazing community in the first place.

  • Capture the heart of the child.
  • Each person has a wonderful living soul.
  • We need to be respectful of every human being.
  • Tone can communicate from one soul to another.
  • Tone can reach out and touch a receptive heart.
  • We want a tone that is warm and vibrates in the heart of others.
  • Warm tone vibrates from the heart.
  • If there is no listening, there is no learning.
  • Do not over teach or children will under learn.

I apologize for not being able to personally attribute these quotes to my exact colleagues who so eloquently spoke them at various presentations during the weekend. However, in the true spirit of the movement, I know that the sharing of ideas is common and appreciated among us all.

Such beautiful language holds great meaning. We must not lose the depth of understanding of what Suzuki sensei created and developed. We must commit to all whose lives we touch, to pass on as much information and as many stories, quotes and lessons as we have learned through the years.

During one of the summer SAA Focus meetings, when breaking out into small groups to discuss questions that participants wanted answers to about the Suzuki Method, it was suggested that at every Suzuki event and gathering, there be at least one session dedicated to “reminiscing” about Suzuki and sharing his passion through whatever means we have available to us. Whether you are a teacher, a parent or a student, I encourage you to raise the level of your curiosity, knowledge, and understanding of Dr. Suzuki and his passion for celebrating the human spirit. By doing so, we will all appreciate and respect each other at a higher level, thereby making our learning community even more valuable than it has been to each of us in the past.

Let us celebrate this holiday season together by giving thanks to our roots and having a vision to instill our passion and our history in the upcoming generations.