Colombia

Fernando Formigo and flute group from Patagonia, Argentina in front of a billboard advertising their public concert in Asuncion, Paraguay

The excellent quality and affordability of Di Zhao flutes have made dreams come true for a number of students in Latin America, and they are inspiring many others to see their own dreams as a real possibility.

In the fall of 2009, a group of Suzuki flute teachers and students in Canada, the US, and Taiwan contributed to the purchase of a Di Zhao alto and bass flute for the Orquesta de Flauta Traversas de San Martin de los Andes in Patagonia, Argentina.

In September 2010, members of the ensemble traveled to Paraguay to give demonstration concerts in local schools, and participate in master classes in Suzuki pedagogy for twelve teacher workshop participants. The twenty-seven-member tour group included flutists from the ages of seven to adult, and they performed Argentinean folk music as well as standards like Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, the concerto for two flutes in C major by Vivaldi, and Passacaglia by Handel. They made big waves: the teachers who heard them play in Asunción immediately set the goal of founding a flute orchestra in Paraguay over the next few years.

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En el año 2004, mi hermana, profesora Suzuki de Piano, y yo, empezamos un proyecto que cambió totalmente nuestras vidas: Formamos una pequeña escuela de música con el nombre “Musicalis Ars Suzuki”, que poco a poco ha ido creciendo.
Allí tenemos clases individuales y grupales de varios instrumentos (violín, piano, guitara, chelo y flauta) y desde que empezamos, siempre hemos llevado a cabo actividades adicionales a las clases, para que los niños disfruten más profundamente su experiencia con el instrumento. Estas actividades son el concurso, el periódico, talleres de padres, ciclo de conciertos, la fiesta de los niños y la…

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Back in 2004, my sister, a Suzuki piano teacher, and I, began a project that changed totally our lives: We formed a small school of music named “Musicalis Ars Suzuki,” which has grown little by little.

There we have individual and group lessons of several instruments (violin, piano, guitar, cello and flute) and since we began, we have always carried out additional activities to the lessons, so that children enjoy their experience with the instrument more deeply. These activities are the contest, the newspaper, parents’ workshops, concerts season, the Halloween party and the orchestra.

The Contest

This event reunites…

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For the first time, flute training courses were offered at the Bogota Suzuki Festival this past June. Ten participants, all from Bogota, attended the Book 1 class. For the Book 2 class, three of these participants continued into the second week of the festival, and they were joined by Laura Nino and Tarcicio Andrade, who studied Book 1 at the Lima Suzuki Festival in January 2007 and 2008, respectively. Gloria Millan and Diana Bettin had previously taken Book 2 training in Lima (with David Gerry and with Kelly Williamson), and chose to attend the class for a second time in Bogota. And finally, three teachers, Gloria Millan, Diana Bettin, and Juan Manuel Acosta Salazar, participated in the Book 4 class, all for the first time. It was fantastic to have such a large group of teachers, all with excellent playing skills and diverse experiences, come to share with the Suzuki flute community.

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Practicum class with Caroline Fraser

I would like to share with you my reflections on having taken the Piano Practicum which was offered as part of the 7th Suzuki Festival held in Bogotá in June, 2008.

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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.

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June 20th-July 5th, 2005

Students from the music reading demonstration class.

Dilva Sanchez, Vice President, Suzuki Association of Colombia writes:

The VII Suzuki Festival of Colombia ended and, as happens every year, we are left feeling satisfied after seeing new teachers taking courses and new students participating in the festival. Many teachers have consistently continued their training. This year we had 16 violin teachers in Book 6, six in piano Book 4, and in the second year of offering guitar, we had six teachers in Book 2.

Read more of VII Suzuki Festival, Bogota »

Arribamos a Colombia el día viernes 24 de junio para dar inicio al programa de capacitación de Estimulación Temprana Musical en los niveles I y II.

Tuvimos la participación de 11 profesores en el curso 1 durante la mañana y 12 profesores en el curso 2 durante la tarde.

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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…

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The XVI Festival Suzuki, held in Lima, Peru, was a resounding success by all accounts. Teachers, students and parents left the festival full of energy, resolve, and renewed dedication. All were impressed by the spirit of friendship, cooperation and support amongst our local teachers. The Suzuki Association of Peru has now gained a reputation in America Latina and serves as a model for other such Associations.

Blancamaria Montecinos, the President of the Suzuki Association of Chile sent us this message: “I think that this has been the best organized festival I have seen in Peru. The level and above all the…

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From Roberta Centurion, International Representative, Suzuki Association of Peru, SAA Latin American Liaison

More than forty Suzuki Teachers from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Peru, Uruguay and the United States came together for the Second Latin American Suzuki Teachers’ Conference held at the Hotel Exclusive in Lima, Peru, on January 12-14 of this year. The event was organized by Caroline Fraser, Marilyn O’Boyle and Roberta Centurion, Latin American Liaisons to the SAA, and was sponsored by the Association Suzuki of the Americas.

Numerous presenters kindly shared their expertise: Tanya Carey -”Developing Leadership Abilities” and “Working Together Towards a Common…

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Translations by Marcial BF, Roberta Centurion, Grace Carvajal Mulatti

In January of this year, the XVI Suzuki International Festival was held in Lima, Peru. A total of 83 teachers and 204 students attended. Teachers arrived from Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico and from various parts of Peru outside of Lima, including Arequipa, Trujillo, Piura, and Cusco. In my Piano IB class alone, there were six countries represented! This was made possible by the financial support we received from the Suzuki Association of the Americas and from the Suzuki teachers of Ohio. The Suzuki Association of Peru was able to…

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Commitment to ongoing teacher training in Latin America

*This summer while teaching at some Institutes in the U.S., I made a plea for donations to help make it possible for the Suzuki Association of Peru to offer its annual Suzuki Festival in January. (This will be the 16′h Festival) This is an event which attracts teachers not only from Peru, but also from other Latin American countries. The Peru Festival will probably be the only Institute in Latin America offering teacher training courses in cello and guitar in 2001. I was very moved by the response. At the Idaho Suzuki…

Read more of Latin American Update »

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…

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I am very happy to be able to share with you the following reports. They have been submitted by several representatives of Latin American countries which participated in the Primer Encuentro de Profesores Suzuki de America Latina, PEPSAL.

Annika Petrozzi, Presidenta de la Asociación Suzuki del Perú

La Asociación Suzuki del Perú realizo su XIV Festival Internacional Suzuki, entre el 11 y el 15 de enero, seguido por el Primer Encuentro de Profesores Suzuki de Latinoamérica, los días 16 y 17 de enero. La convocatoria fue muy bien recibida por profesores y representantes de nuestros hermanos países vecinos, quienes acudieron en…

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Thanks to the Internet, I have been in communication with Liliana Arboleda, a Suzuki violin teacher from Cali, Colombia. She plays with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Cali, and attended Ithaca Suzuki Institute last summer. She plans to return this year to Ithaca to continue her teacher training courses. She has 25 Suzuki students in Cali.

Thanks to the joint efforts of the Suzuki Music Association of Southern California (Los Angeles Branch) and the Suzuki Association of Wisconsin, two Suzuki teachers from Santa Cruz, Bolivia will be attending the Chicago Conference. They are Rosario Anaya, piano teacher and Magali Pinto, violin teacher.…

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Profile of Suzuki programs in Latin America

The table below is a compilation of information gathered from questionnaires sent to numerous Latin American Suzuki programs in May, 1997. The response was overwhelming! I am very grateful to all who participated in this survey. The results give a clear picture of the Suzuki programs in Latin America and provide guidance to help the SAA better serve and represent the Suzuki education throughout Latin America.

The countries which participated in the survey were Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Puerto Rico.

The needs of these programs can be…

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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…

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