Ms. Diane Byington

I am new to the coast of Oregon, having moved to Reedsport in January of 2022. For many years my husband, Harry, has wanted to return to the rivers and lakes of his childhood. Finally we made the move this year!

Fortunately we learned to do online lessons during Covid, so I have been able to continue with some of my Solvang Conservatory students despite the move. However, I am eager to have in person students here in Reedsport. We have established a new School of Music at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church at the corner of Elm and 22nd. I have a wonderful studio here and the church is happy to host recitals and other musical events.

I began my Suzuki journey when John Kendall came to Claremont, CA for a month long teacher training workshop in the summer of 1978. The following summer I graduated from USC and immediately went with the Alice Joy Lewis teacher’s group to Matsumoto, Japan to study with Shinichi Suzuki. The following year to the American Suzuki Institute in Stevens Point, WI to study with Anastasia Jempelis. Additionally, the many discusions and shared experiences with my teaching and performing colleagues
of that time were of inestimable value: Margaret Shimizu, Gail Acosta, Richard Schwabe, Sharon Holland, Bernard Jones, Rick Mooney, Sandi Fukunaga, and many others were part of my development.

The following is from the bio on my Solvang Conservatory website:

Miss Diane grew up in the pre-Suzuki era of violin instruction and well before the Kodaly approach to music literacy made its way into this country. Amazingly she learned how to play the violin anyway, and along the way developed a passion for teaching others to learn the instrument. Wanting to be able to take students to a high level, she majored in violin performance at the USC School of Performing Arts and enjoyed an active performing career while establishing her first music school in Redlands. She began studying the teaching method/philosophy of Shinichi Suzuki while still an undergrad and then after graduate school (M.A. in performance practice from UCR) she earned a Certificate in Kodaly from Holy Names College in Oakland.

Common to both Suzuki and Kodaly approaches is the belief that the values and the wisdom of a culture are transmitted through its music and that all children can be educated to participate in the music of their culture. Both pedagogues developed child-friendly systems of music education that respected the natural learning abilities of young children. Before entering a class of five-year-olds Suzuki would say: “I must come down to their physical limitations and up to their sense of awe.” Kodaly also had great respect for the learning abilities of the young child and also worked out a sequence of repertoire and skills that honored the learning process.

Miss Diane is committed to their ideal that all children can learn to a very high level, and carefully leads each student through a well thought out curriculum that leads to the mastery of the violin and college level musicianship skills. She enjoys each step that a student takes on this journey.

As much fun as toddlers have in Miss Diane’s Pre-Twinkle Violin Program, some of her most passionate students are senior citizens. They appreciate her ability to break down the complex physical movements required in a stringed instrument into steps that they can master. They also appreciate her patience and playfulness as they discover together the joy of mastering this instrument.

For more information on my teaching plan please visit my website www.solvang-conservatory.org. This site will stay up until we create a new one for the Beautiful Savior School of Music.