We Locked Ourselves at Home and the World Opened Up for Us

Some months ago, the world stopped being the same;
we couldn’t measure the magnitude of the changes
that the COVID-19 pandemic would bring. Our lives
took a radical turn and with that also the way we teach
our individual and group classes. Teachers, students, and
parents had to adapt to technology.

It wasn’t easy at the beginning, but with the passing days
we all became more skilled. As the confinement grew, also
did our need to get together and make music, and it was
there and then when we orchestrated the First International
Online Recital organized by Suzukids Veracruz and Boca del
Rio. The original idea was that violin and piano students
needed to listen to other kids playing the Suzuki repertoire
with different instrument from the usual ones. In the
first recital we heard flute kids from the teacher Patricia
Ferrero from Argentina, the talented recorder students
of Renata Pereira from Brazil, and violinists and pianists
from Mexico, from the Suzuki Academy of Cuernavaca and
Suzukids Veracruz.
We did not know the impact this recital would have until
we started receiving messages from teachers in other
countries telling us they wanted to participate with their

students. And thus came the Second Recital with the en-
gagement of kids from Cuba and Isla Guadalupe—I want

to highlight the extraordinary efforts of the Cuban kids to
send their videos, since they don’t have a reliable internet
service and they had no means to participate live through
the Zoom platform. We were also joined by students from
Santiago de Compostela, Spain, playing as soloists and trios

formed by mom, dad, and child. At that moment we un-
derstood the relevance of staying together and continuing

building a community through music, putting aside all the
fears that come with a worldwide pandemic. The kids were
showing us how much they needed to be together creating
thoughts of peace and love.
One afternoon, my sister tells me with excitement that

she received a message from a teacher in South Africa, say-
ing he wanted his students to participate in the recital, so

we immediately set up a video call with him. He explained
to us that his students were struggling, and the Suzuki
families were focused on getting food. He shared with us
a video for broadcasting in the recital. That has been the
most emotional moment of all the recitals; many of us had
to hold back the tears while watching the stories about these

kids in South Africa. On that same
recital we met a grandmother from
Isla Guadalupe, who is in treatment
for a grave illness. The day she learned
that her three- and four-year-old
granddaughters would be performing
at the recital she got very excited and
asked permission at the assisted living
home where she lives to be able to go
out and gather with her daughter and
granddaughters, because it was her
idea that they learn to play the cello. It
was really touching to watch grandma
playing the Twinkle variations in a
cello quartet along with her daughter
and granddaughters. So many stories
have flowed from these events! As of
the 5th International Online Recital,
more than 90 students and 25 teachers
in 13 countries have participated.

N

After the 5th International Online
Recital, it was hard to tell who were
more motivated, the kids, the parents
or us teachers. For weeks we have
received messages from teachers in
different parts of the world wanting
their students to participate, there
have been so many messages that we

came to have a waiting list. A wonder-
ful thing has been having students

playing different instruments from
those we usually teach in our country.
It was amazing listening to Elena
Enrico’s students with their beautiful

accordions, which allowed us to ap-
preciate the diversity of instruments

taught in the Suzuki method.

The online recitals have opened
their doors to all the students that
had a special project in 2020 but got
frustrated because of the pandemic.
That is the case of a young boy from
Italy, Alberto Sabia, who was supposed
to travel to London to play in a concert
for winning pianists of a competition

organized in Europe; the perfor-
mance would take place at the Royal

Albert Hall. The concert was canceled,
and Alberto was very sad since he
had been preparing for months for
this event. When we learned about
his story, we invited Alberto and his
teacher Stefania Maio to join the 6th
International Online Recital. There
are Professor Maio’s words: “Alberto
prepared for months to play at the
Royal Albert Hall and the pandemic
prevented that from happening, but
today he’s playing for the whole world

and for hundreds of families in dif-
ferent countries.” It was an emotional

moment for all of us.
We have seen firsthand the great
encouragement these recitals have
meant. We’ve learned stories about
students and teachers that a day
before the recital lost a relative to
COVID-19 and still they decided to
play and dedicate their song to that
beloved one.
Language has not been a barrier
because the music is the language
that brings us together. I’ve reached
to the conclusion that our mission in
2020 is to give these students and their
families a reason to be happy.

For the 10th recital we gathered all

the teachers and students that partici-
pated in this series. A week before, we

sent an email to every parent with a
diploma they would have to print and
have it ready as a surprise gift for their
children. None of the students knew
they were going to receive a diploma
from Mexico. During the broadcast
we told them we had a present for
each one and in that moment every
child received from their parents this
special recognition.
We’re delighted by the fact that by

recital number 10, more than 332 stu-
dents from 22 different countries have

participated, representing 50 Suzuki
academies and 70 Suzuki teachers. It
was a meaningful event also because
for the first time in the American
continent the babies from the Suzuki
Early Childhood Education program
joined too, from Canada, Mexico,
Guatemala, Uruguay, and Brazil. The
International Online Recitals that we
started in March will continue, we will
not stop. Our mission for 2020 is to be
happy through music.
I am profoundly grateful to my
sister Sinai for being the technical
producer of each recital. Thanks to
Martha Ceballos for getting on board
of this train and for giving me her
moral support. Thanks to the teacher
Jaqueline Jardines from Santiago de
Cuba, for teaching us in every recital
that a lot can be done with very little. 

Ruth Priscila Menesses
Guevara b e g a n h e r
violin studies with her
g r a n d fat h e r, M a e st ro
David Guevara Landin. At
15 years of age she entered
the career of Concert Violist at the National
Conservatory of Music of Mexico. She is currently
part of the Boca del Río Philharmonic Orchestra.
She is a promoter of the Suzuki methodology in
Veracruz, Mexico, and since 2010 she has been
the director of Suzukids Talent Education. Her
Suzuki teacher training has been with Nancy
Locken, Eduardo Ludueña, Fernando Piñero, Wan
Tsai Chen, Lynn McCall, Marylin O’Boyle and Caroline Fraser.