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By Pierre Yves Gagnon - Oakville, Ontario
Earlier this year, Carmen Evans and Susan Beth Barak and I were discussing organizing a Viola Day to gather Ontarian violists in one place where they could enjoy the rich sound of their instrument together. We agreed that this year’s Suzuki Association of Ontario Conference in Etobicoke would be an ideal time to host such an event. Viola group lessons can be a challenge to organize. Outside of larger programs, there are often only a handful of violists within a school or a studio. As a result, they often have to join a cello or a violin group class, which can be awkward for them. Viola Day offers these isolated violists an opportunity to meet fellow violists and discover what their instrument truly sounds like. Our first Viola Day took place on Saturday, November 10 at Humber College in Etobicoke as part of the SAO Conference’s Student Day. Fifteen violists, ranging from Twinkles to Viola Book7 and beyond, attended this event. This number allowed the organizers to offer three different groups: a viola play-in, a Book1-3 session and a Book4 and up session. The conference orchestra was very pleased to have such a large influx of violists. We brought together such a large range of abilities by offering the participants a viola choir repertoire that could cater to the junior students while satisfying the advanced students. I arranged a few pieces that included open strings and easily played accompaniments for the pieces performed. Ensemble for Viola, Volumes1 and 2, provided duet parts to accompany the early Suzuki viola repertoire. On behalf of the Suzuki Viola community, we would like to thank the organizing committee of the SAO Conference2018, and in particular Margot Jewell, for having accommodated our event. This was an important step in promoting a collaborative community of violists in Ontario. We are planning to host another Viola Day at the next SAO Conference on November 2–3, 2019 in Guelph.
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By Jennifer Johnson —St. John’s, Newfoundland
author of What Every Violinist Needs to Know About the Body and Teaching Body Mapping to Children Musicians Move! There is a story about Jascha Heifetz being greeted backstage by an admiring fan after a performance. She gushed to him “Your violin makes such a beautiful sound!” Still holding his violin, Heifetz held it up to his ear and said “Funny, I don’t hear anything!” His point, of course, was that regardless of how wonderful a violin is, no sound will emerge from it at all until the player sets the strings vibrating, and that it’s ultimately the skilled movements of the player that make it sound beautiful or not. As a movement specialist for musicians, I love this story. As obvious as it may seem, some musicians miss the point that the skilled movements we perform in order to create sound is of the same category as that of dancers or other athletes. The vibrations that we call music can only be created through us moving our bodies. Furthermore, the quality of our movement will determine the quality of our sound. Body Mapping My research found that recent studies showed that as many as 75-90% of all professional musicians are regularly playing with some kind of pain, injury, or discomfort. To address this high rate of injury, Alexander Technique (AT) teacher Barbara Conable, founded and developed a method of teaching healthy movement through developing awareness of accurate anatomical information. For the last 30 years, professional musicians studying Body Mapping have recovered from injury by learning to move according to the true anatomical design of their bodies. Our world needs great beauty and artistry now, perhaps more than ever; we can’t afford to keep losing musicians to injury, especially when those injuries are preventable through putting good information into action! Suzuki Method and Body Mapping Because Suzuki teachers start children at such young ages, we have the unique opportunity to protect a young child’s natural-born movement patterns and prevent injury from ever happening! Suzuki was one of the world’s greatest pioneers in early childhood education; he helped to unlock human learning potential. Until his theories of Talent Education were shown to be universally successful, it was widely believed that some people were born talented and some were not. In scientific terms, Suzuki found a way to train the auditory cortex from a very early age, to prevent his young musicians from ever feeling limited in their talent. Teaching Body Mapping in the Suzuki studio is the next logical step in removing limitations from young musicians. Body Mapping provides a systematic way to train the motor cortex from a very early age so that young musicians never feel physically limited in their talent. By giving our students a firm understanding of how the body is anatomically designed to move, we can improve our students’ motor capabilities and prevent limitations and injury from developing. By Karen-Michele Kimmett—Roblin, Ontario
For many years, Sue Irvine has often been the only PEI Suzuki member listed in the Suzuki Association of the Americas directory. She is a violin teacher and Suzuki mother of Adrian, who is now a Suzuki teacher in Toronto. Sue has worked tirelessly to bring interest and prospective new teachers to the Suzuki method. For example, at the yearly music festival held in Charlottetown, she has encouraged organizers to invite adjudicators who, along with other music credentials, have a Suzuki background. She also currently offers group classes once a month with other local teachers, some of whom took Suzuki training years ago. Other local teachers are interested in learning about the method but have young families or limited resources making the pursuit of training difficult. In conversation with Sue, it becomes clear that cost and accessibility to teacher training are key issues in further developing the method. It costs more, for example, for a participant to travel to St. Johns, Nfld., than it does to attend the Montreal Institute. Musing aloud, Sue wondered if it might be possible to partner with Mount Allison University, for example, to offer an ECC course. Or perhaps the Nova Scotia Suzuki Institute could offer progressive teacher training units over a period of several summers to help with the training of future teachers. Recently the University of Prince Edward Island held a Symposium on the Arts and Sue hopes that at a future event, the Suzuki Method could be presented as part of the Symposium. Sue is currently working with some young enthusiastic teachers, including a cellist, she hopes will one day be able to take over her program. The challenge is finding enough students in this sparse population to make it possible for a new Suzuki teacher to make an actual living. Sue is working hard to find a solution and with her energy and commitment, I’m sure that she will. Borealis Suzuki Winds Institute
Edmonton, AB Great Lakes Suzuki Flute Institute Guelph, ON Institut Suzuki Montréal Montreal, QC Langley Community Music School Suzuki Workshop Langley, BC Newfoundland and Labrador Suzuki Institute St. John’s, NL River City Suzuki Piano Institute Edmonton, AB Southwestern Ontario Suzuki Institute Waterloo, ON Studio of Gail Lange Guelph, ON Suzuki Valhalla Institute New Denver, BC Thames Valley Suzuki School London, ON  By Paule Barsalou — Guelph, Ontario
Hurray! A new violin Suzuki Pedagogy Program has been launched! After years of efforts in finding a university willing and able to start a long-term teacher training program in Canada, The Suzuki String School of Guelph has made the bold leap to start its own two-year Suzuki pedagogy program. This program will cover the processes of technical and musical development through the first eight volumes of the Suzuki Violin School, as well as discussions of the history and philosophy of the Suzuki Method® and its application in the context of private and group lessons. The second year will also include a practicum of a minimum of two hours of teaching a week under the supervision of a teacher trainer. Participants meet for three hours per week for 26 weeks a year. Thanks to Prof. Jerzy Kaplanek and Dean Glen Curruthers, who have been wonderful supporters of the program, the Faculty of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU) in Waterloo, Ontario is providing the teaching space and allowing its students to take the course for credit. I am the teacher for the first cohort, which started this fall. It is hoped that we will start a new cohort next year and start a cello program, as well. Starting this program was no small feat. Discussions with WLU date back to the ‘90s, when Daphne Hughes, Sally Gross, and Gail Lange made the first approach. It was a challenge to help university administrators, who were not familiar with our Suzukipedagogy courses, to really understand the content, breadth, and value of such a program. The need is certainly there, as until we established this program, the only way for Canadians to participate in long-term Suzuki pedagogy has been to go to the United States! Some of the advantages of long-term Suzuki teacher training are:
The Board of the Suzuki String School of Guelph must be applauded for their visionary work in supporting me in developing this program and including it as part of our school’s curriculum. Let’s hope that this Suzuki Violin Pedagogy Program will continue to grow and become stronger in the years to come! To all Canadian members of the SAA; à tous les membres canadiens de la SAA: You are cordially invited to read Volume 1, no. 1 of the Canadian Suzuki e-Newsletter, created by the Canadian Suzuki e-Newsletter Committee on behalf of all Canadian SAA members! This e-Newsletter will be sent to you twice a year: January and June. Vous êtes cordialement invités à lire le volume 1, no1 de l’Infolettre Suzuki canadienne, créé par le Comité de l’Infolettre Suzuki canadienne au nom de tous les membres canadiens de la SAA! Cette infolettre vous sera envoyé deux fois par an: janvier et juin. Why a Canadian e-Newsletter? The idea to have a Canadian e-Newsletter grew out of a meeting of Canadian teachers at the SAA Leadership Retreat at Deer Creek Lodge, OH, in 2017 with a committee of interested teachers taking on the challenge of preparing the Newsletter you see today. We gratefully acknowledge the SAA who is publishing this e-Newsletter on our behalf. Pourquoi une Infolettre Suzuki canadienne? L’idée d’avoir l’Infolettre Suzuki canadienne est née d’une réunion d’enseignants canadiens lors de la retraite de leadership de la SAA à Deer Park en OH en 2017. Un comité d’enseignants intéressés a relevé le défi de préparer le bulletin que vous voyez aujourd’hui. Nous remercions sincèrement la SAA qui publie l’Infolettre en notre nom. Our goal:
Pour soumettre un article ou une annonce: suzukimusiccanada@gmail.com
To contact a committee member:
Pour se mettre en contact avec un membre du comité: suzukimusiccanada@gmail.com By Megumi Harada —Etobicoke, Ontario
We are a Suzuki family from the Etobicoke School of Music (EMS), with an 8-year-old boy, Gen, playing violin (Book 3) and a 5-year-old girl, Ai, playing cello (Book 1). We attended the Southwestern Ontario Suzuki Institute in August 2018. It was amazing! We shared on-campus accommodations with another family: Kasthuri (in the YAP violin program) and 9-year-old Vishwa (violin, Book 3). We knew them through ESM, but we bonded in that special way that only the sharing of living space can deliver. In past years, my children had taken part in SOSI only because “mom makes us”. This time, they had a blast with their friends! Our two families also supported each other throughout the week in both small and large ways — looking after each other’s children, going to each other’s recitals, etc. For Gen, bonding with Vishwa was an important turning point. Instead of being “what mom makes me do”, violin became something a little bit closer to “what my buddy and I do together”. Vishwa also came to Gen’s fiddling concert and solo recital — providing much-appreciated moral support. The two are now best buddies at ESM, so the benefits of SOSI are extending well into our regular year. In the months since, Gen’s playing has taken off in ways that I wouldn’t have imagined just a few months ago. It was very special when our home teacher said to us recently that his playing has “reached a totally new level of expressiveness’’. This year my daughter Ai was lucky to attend a master class with only two students. For 5 consecutive days, she had 30 minutes of undivided attention from a master teacher. This concentrated dose of top-quality instruction allowed us to make the kind of progress in a week that usually takes months, or quite possibly, never happens at all. Thankfully, our teacher focused on the fundamentals, which I often feel get forgotten amidst the constant demands of preparing for concerts, recitals, etc. However, during SOSI week, we were concerned only with posture and being in tune. And under the guidance of a master teacher! I was in Suzuki heaven. Finally, as a Suzuki parent, it is deeply soul-affirming to spend a week immersed in the spirit of Suzuki — in the company of, and supported by, teachers who are musically of the highest quality, and who embody so completely the love that is so central to everything Suzuki. Indeed, the love in the room at the SOSI Faculty Concert was palpable: the love of Dr. Suzuki, of the children, and of course, the love of music. As the SOSI organizers said on the first day: “Even in these troubled times, we believe in music. In making music, we come together. In music, we find humanity at its best.’’ This year’s SOSI was everything a Suzuki family could possibly hope for. We are going back next year. Submitted by Catherine Walker —Canton de Hatley QC
Last Saturday, five of my cello students had the opportunity to play at the Haskell Library and Opera House which is literally situated on the border between Newport, Vermont and Stanstead, Quebec. There is actually a black line indicating the border on the floor passing through the room in which we played! Music Without Borders is a concert series intended to bring children together from the United States and Canada and to teach them about different types of music and various instruments. My students ranged in age from age six to fourteen and we played solos and group pieces from Twinkles to the Gigue from the first Bach suite. This was a wonderful way for them to prepare for our Christmas recital. By Thomas Schoen—Edmonton, Alberta
The Suzuki Method is alive and well in Alberta! We have 119 registered Suzuki teachers working all across the province. While many teachers are located in the major urban centres, there are quite a number of very active teachers in smaller centres, as well. While much of the Suzuki activities are in bowed strings (including viola and bass), guitar and piano, we have a vibrant SECE community, a very active flute and recorder community, and a growing trumpet community. We also have teachers in Suzuki voice and, as of recently, now have a Suzuki harp teacher as well. I have had the good fortune to travel to many parts of Alberta as a festival adjudicator, and have enjoyed seeing and hearing the wonderful work Suzuki teachers and students are doing all over Alberta. Some activities of note are:
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