News, page 47

“Music is the only source of energy that I have know in my life that gives humans a chance to be instantly transformed into spirit.”
—David Darling

Inspiration in music, inspiration through music, inspiration with music, inspiration from music… It has to do with insights, feelings, ideas, energy and hearing music in our minds. Where does inspiration come from? Why are some people more receptive to creative ideas than others? In Mastery of Music I interviewed the distinguished composer Terry Riley, considered to be one of the founding fathers of New Age music. Riley talked about the source of musical inspiration residing in a universal spirit or consciousness.

Read more of Inspiration & Creativity: Mind-Body Integration »

Introduction

One minute I’m home, playing gigs, teaching, getting ready for Christmas, the next I find myself on a midnight flight to Lima, Peru, on my way to take part in the XX International Suzuki Festival.

For the last two years, I had been corresponding by email with Caroline Fraser in Peru. She contacted me through my website, in which I had described my hoped for mission of teaching violin and viola to poor or orphaned children in Latin America. She told me about their program in Peru and how each year more and more teachers and students were attending their…

Read more of XX International Suzuki Festival, Peru 2005 »

Translated by Caroline Fraser and Claudia Woll, Peru and Margarita Troetsch, Panama

Music Reading Worskshop in Santiago, Chile; January 3-6, 2005

By Blancamaria Montecinos, President, Suzuki Association of Chile

We invited Caroline Fraser to teach. We had been missing her, as we had not been able to offer courses since 2000. The workshop was a success for both teachers and students. The children had a great time. It was fun for them and so natural that they wanted to continue finding out what else they could read in such an easy way. It was very useful for us to see in…

Read more of January Events in Latin America »

The experience at the SAA 11th Conference in Minneapolis will continue to shape the lives of the young students with East Cleveland Rainbow Suzuki Strings. From traveling via bus to another state, to performing for an enthusiastic audience at the Opening Ceremonies, to seeing professional musicians on stage, to sightseeing in the Twin Cities, to working with master violin clinician and performer Pamela Frank—ECRSS will remember it forever. These young students’ dedication and love of music also made a lasting impact on the Conference attendees.

Read more of Rainbow Suzuki Strings Revisited »

It’s hard to believe that my two years as Chair are almost over and that it will soon be time to hand over the torch to my successor. The time has flown by so fast!

It’s even harder to believe that at the end of July I will be retiring from the SAA board after nine years of service. I have filled every office and served on every board committee I’m allowed to serve. It has been a wonderful nine years of fun and fellowship, hard work, problem solving, learning, giving and receiving, all with an amazing group of talented…

Read more of Chair’s Column »

We have to understand early childhood stimulation as a way to help the baby in discovering his own world—guiding him and supporting him, trying not to correct him or direct him too much, but giving him the opportunity to make his own discoveries. This means a close observation of his behavior by the adult in charge, whose attitude should be one of respect, observing the baby’s reactions without intervening, even if they are not what the adult expected. In this way the baby will show us his essence without taking away from him his creativity, spontaneity and freedom of thought. Otherwise the baby will condition his actions to what the adult expects of him and will not make his own discoveries. For example, if the baby holds a drum upside down, it is OK. He is finding out how it looks on the other side. If he licks the drumsticks, he is exploring them. Don’t try to correct him, just keep objects and toys clean.

Read more of The Baby 0-3 Years & Music »

It’s an exciting time to be involved with the SAA! So much is happening on so many fronts! CEO Pam Brasch and Board Secretary Dee Martz just returned from Peru, where they participated along with several SAA teachers and Teacher Trainers in the Peru association’s wildly successful Enceuntro and Festival. The Peru events touched many lives from all over Latin America and from as far away as western Canada. From right here in my home-town of Calgary, local teacher Carmen Wise traveled to Peru to take Bill Preucil’s viola teachers’ class and to teach Festival violin and viola classes as…

Read more of Chair’s Column »

Refer by last names; all present except Andy.

Book 5 Update

Longay wants to get started updating Book 5. He will send materials to the committee to get the ball rolling.

Guitars—finding better small instruments

Longay is getting advanced youngsters who need higher quality instruments. He says if there is someone willing to pay for it there should be a fine instrument available for them. He says Eduardo Moreno Moore has a better quality small guitar he made for his daughter and he is sending it to him as a sample.

Recordings for teacher trainee status

Question: should we have three levels of…

Read more of SAA Guitar Committee Conference Call Notes, November 7, 2004 »

Canadian violinist, conductor, teacher and pioneer in music education, Tom Rolston, was recently presented with The Orpheus Award, Music Alberta’s highest award, at the Alberta Music Conference. At a dinner held in his honour several guests thanked Tom publicly for his work at the University of Alberta, the Edmonton Symphony, the Society for Talent Education and the Banff Centre for the Arts.

SAA Board Chair Joanne Melvin thanked Tom on behalf of the SAA for his pioneering work in bringing Suzuki education to Canada nearly forty years ago. As a result of his efforts a number of Suzuki programs were started…

Read more of Tom Rolston Honored in Edmonton »

The 50th Suzuki Method Grand Concert was held in Tokyo, March 30, 2004, at the Nippon Budokon. 3,300 violin, cello, flute and piano students participated. In addition, 100 teachers and students from America, Germany, Korea, Taiwan, Australia and other countries took part in this special 50th anniversary of the annual Suzuki concert in Tokyo.

Read more of 50th Annual Concert: A Grand Celebration »

The Suzuki Association of the Americas is responsible for the development of Suzuki education in the all the Americas, from Alaska and Arctic Canada to Patagonia. It’s a huge geographic area with enormous economic and cultural diversity. SAA recognizes and uses four official languages—English, French, Portuguese and Spanish—within its region.

The SAA board recently had the opportunity to experience one facet of that diversity when it held its fall 2004 meeting in Montreal, Quebec. Board members had heard for some time about the need to produce Suzuki materials in SAA’s other official languages besides English. The…

Read more of Chair’s Column »

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…

Read more of Chair’s Column »

Compiled by Caroline Fraser

Guanajuato, Mexico

Etna Diemecke, attended the January 2003 Suzuki International Festival in Lima, Peru, as a scholarship recipient. She returned to Guanajuato, Mexico, determined to organize a similar event there and she did it! Thanks to the seeds already planted by Sandy Reuning and the Ithaca Suzuki Institute, and the generosity of the donors to our Latin American Teachers Scholarship Fund, the 1Sl Suzuki Festival of Guanajuato took place in September, 2003. This was the first such event ever in Mexico.

The festival took place in a very beautiful setting. A key component was the participation of Mr.…

Read more of Latin American Update »

There was much excitement following our most recent board meeting, held in Hartford, Connecticut. The Board had just completed reworking its “Ends” policies, the statements that define the global, long-term vision of the Association. These statements define benefits and recipients, answering the questions “What good?” exists and “For whom?” as a result of our organisation’s efforts. Because “Ends” statements describe a state of being, rather than list the things we do, they look much more generic than, say, a list of membership benefits. “Ends” policies are not expected to look glamorous or sexy, or sound snappy or catchy. They simply…

Read more of Chair’s Column »

I am happy to be writing to you from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, as your new Chair of the SAA Board of Directors. I have been a Suzuki violin teacher for 24 years and a “Suzuki Mum” for five years. My son Baussman is a Grade-One French Immersion student (Canadians can choose their schooling in either English or French). He is also a terrific little cellist (proud Mum speaking!) and a budding gymnast. Baussman has taught me many things. Since the time my husband and I adopted him at seven months of age, he has turned many of my notions about…

Read more of Chair’s Column »

When I rejoined the board seven years ago, I had no idea that my tenure would last so long, nor that I would be elected Chair. I merely expected to serve a three-year term and offer what skills I had to the organization. At the time, the Board had commenced training in policy governance and in leadership skills. I was skeptical that either was necessary, but determined to give it a try. I had no idea that the skills I would gain would prove so useful in so many areas of my life.

The first meeting was in San Juan, PR.…

Read more of Chair’s Column »

I love my husband, my daughter, my students, my dog, my garden and my home, but not always in that order. As dear as these are to me, my idea of a vacation is time away from “wife-ing,” mothering, cooking, cleaning, weeding, teaching and picking up after my dog in the yard (no small chore—I have an English Mastiff). Give me a weekend away and I’ll be a better wife, mom and teacher. Give me eleven days away and I’ll deliver world peace, convert whole tribes in New Guinea to Christianity, finally play the second page of Kreisler’s Praeludium and Allegro without missing a note, and run up Mount Whitney barefooted and backwards while knitting sweaters for children in Afghanistan. Well, OK, maybe I’d just feel I could, but isn’t believing you can do something the first step towards making it happen? (If that isn’t a Suzuki-ism, it ought to be.) If someone had told me, that in addition to getting away from my daily responsibilities, there was a place I could go where I could immerse myself in good music, finally be alone with my thoughts, make new friends, improve myself professionally, and have plain, old-fashioned, goofy fun, I would have thought it was too good to be true. Wouldn’t you? Think again! No travel agency in the world can offer you what a summer Suzuki teacher training course can.

Read more of My Suzuki Training Get-Away Vacation »

Caroline Fraser and Roberta Centurion, translators

Despite the economic crisis which Latin America is experiencing, Suzuki programs continue to grow and flourish. Due to this crisis many places have had to cancel plans for offering teacher training courses, while other courses have miraculously taken place. Below you will hear from teachers in Bogota, Colombia; Londrina, Brazil; Cusco, Peru; and Cordoba, Argentina. Congratulations to all the teachers, their families and the people in their communities who have worked with dedication and persistence to help spread Dr Suzuki’s ideals in Latin America.

IV Festival Suzuki de Colombia

A dedicated group of teachers in Colombia…

Read more of Latin American Update »

“You need some help!” is what a new parent said to me when she saw all of the activities available in the Suzuki program I was running in Elgin, IL. It just seemed to evolve, and before I knew it, there were over sixty violin students and ten cello students. It took three part-time violin teachers and a cello teacher to accommodate the growing program. There was a great deal of organization every time we had a performance, an outside clinician or an all-school play-in style concert at the end of the school year. I was doing everything from making performing outfits to renting halls for recitals and concerts with help from a few volunteers. The “you-need-some-help!” exclamation was a welcome suggestion that I hadn’t realized was necessary for my studio to run smoothly.

Read more of Suzuki Plus, a Parent Group Supreme »