SAA is pleased to announce a new alliance with Clarion Associates, Inc. to provide instrument insurance at special rates to our US members. This means we now offer 2 options of companies with excellent instrument policies for you to choose from according to your needs. Please contact Clarion for information about their policy, rates, enrollment, etc.
News, page 47
14th World Suzuki Convention
The 14th Suzuki Method World Convention in Turin, Italy, April 12-17, 2006 will be held eight years after the death of Maestro Shinichi Suzuki. The mission of the convention is to carry on Suzuki’s legacy and message, pursuing an objective dear to him, that all the children of the world, thanks to music, be happy and have a better life. Visit www.14suzukiworldconvention.net
El 3er Encuentro de Profesores de America Latina
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…
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Novedades de America Latina
Compilado por Caroline Fraser; traducido por Caroline Fraser y Claudia Woll, Perú y Margarita Troetsch, Panamá
Taller de Lectura Musical, Santiago, Chile; 3-6 de enero del 2005
Por Blancamaria Montecinos, Presidenta, Asociación Suzuki de Chile
En esta oportunidad invitamos a Caroline Fraser a quien extrañábamos mucho, ya que desde el año 2000, no habíamos podido tener cursos con ella. El taller fue un éxito tanto para profesores como para alumnos. Los niños la pasaron muy bien. Fue divertido para ellos y tan natural que querían continuar averiguando qué más podían leer de manera tan fácil. Fue muy útil para nosotros ver…
The 3rd Latin American Teachers’ Conference
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…
Inspiration & Creativity: Mind-Body Integration
“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.
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XX International Suzuki Festival, Peru 2005
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…
January Events in Latin America
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…
Rainbow Suzuki Strings Revisited
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.
Chair’s Column
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…
The Baby 0-3 Years & Music
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.
Chair’s Column
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…
SAA Guitar Committee Conference Call Notes, November 7, 2004
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…
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Tom Rolston Honored in Edmonton
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…
50th Annual Concert: A Grand Celebration
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.
Chair’s Column
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…
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…
Latin American Update
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.…
Chair’s Column
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…
