NZSI Newsletter 1987 October Volume 9
Table of Contents
Editorial
Editor’s thoughts on this issue and a call for contributions.
This Is the Suzuki Method
Guidelines for parents on practicing effectively at home.
Executive News
Updates from the 1987 AGM, including committee changes and a summary of key activities.
President’s Report
Annual report detailing workshops, training, and Institute milestones.
Teacher Trainee Accreditations
Recognition of teacher graduations and achievements in violin and piano.
A Plea for Help from Fiji
A letter requesting Suzuki support for students in Suva after a teacher relocation.
NZSI String Summer Camp Registration
Details and fees for the January 1988 camp at Keswick Camp, Rotorua.
Berlin 1987
Highlights from the VIII Suzuki Method International Conference in Berlin.
The Other Side
A reflective poem on the Berlin Conference experience.
Letter from Australia
Insights on body language and its impact on students during lessons.
News from the Regions
Updates and activities from Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington Suzuki branches.
Berlin – 1987
My arrival in Berlin to attend the VIII Suzuki Method International Conference marked the beginning of a highly motivating and intensely busy seven days. We had been notified in advance that the rehearsal for the Opening Ceremony was to commence at 10:30 a.m. — students to arrive at 10 a.m. for tuning of instruments. The Berlin Symphony Orchestra was on stage ready for rehearsal, and the conductor for this concert was Koji Toyoda, one of Dr. Suzuki’s early students. Can you imagine the thrill of seeing and hearing between 30 and 40 young violinists from many countries playing together for the first time in perfect unison, the third movement of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto complemented by such a wonderful orchestra?
So my week had started, and from then on, it was go, go, go! On registration, we received the final programme, which consisted of 96 pages — how I wished I’d sent money to have this programme posted to me in advance so that I could have decided at some leisure which sessions, recitals, etc., I wished to attend — instead of each morning in the U-Bahn with Joan Barber and her son Nicholas (my student) sitting on either side of me as we made each day’s decisions.
There were 3,000 people, including four from NZ, attending the conference, 1,000 of them children from over 30 countries. So it was encouraging to see the New Zealand flag fluttering outside the Congress Centre along with 30 others.
There were 23 Student Recitals with groups from lots of countries performing. Unfortunately, many of the programmes overlapped, which made it difficult to decide which one to attend. Also, the Congress building was very large, and even after a week, I was continually finding myself either on the wrong level or at the wrong end!
The Gala Concert held in the Berlin Philharmonic Hall was something everyone present will long remember. The atmosphere in the foyer was full of excitement well before we had all “climbed” to our seats. The programme (again accompanied by the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, this time conducted by the Musical Director of the German Opera, Berlin, Dr. Jesus Lopez-Cobos) consisted of movements from some of the major concertos for violin, piano, and cello performed by young artists, 11 years and upwards.
Each and every session I attended impressed me anew. It was that wonderful “Suzuki” tone accompanied by excellent intonation, which displayed beyond all doubt that there are dedicated Suzuki Method teachers and parents in all parts of the world diligently seeking to carry out Dr. Suzuki’s instruction.
We attended his daily instruction classes where he had his students performing and demonstrating his “new ideas.” They played the first movement of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto all with an upside-down bow-hold. His remark at the end — “This is an easy piece. Judas Maccabeus, this is hard!” It was quite amazing to see this 89-year-old man bounding across the stage to try and show us that you play the violin with your entire body like a baseball player. How wonderful to think that even at his great age, he is still brimming over with “new ideas.” He cannot retire and says he must live until 110 years old!
The Farewell Concert was a wonderful culmination to a week of hard work, with 1,000 students taking part. There were cello, viola, and flute groups followed by a piano group — 20 grand pianos on stage and played together in items such as Cuckoo (Daquin), Turkish March (Mozart), and Rondo Capriccioso (Mendelssohn-Bartholdy). What a thrilling sight and sound this was! The Violin Group then ended the concert, the first piece played before Chaconne (Vitali-David) and then working through the repertoire until finally there were about 700 violinists on stage to perform the “Twinkles” (all in front of the 20 grand pianos).
Surely it was a week to remember, spectacular in its simplicity, inspiring and the elixir to a more positive approach than ever. New seeds were sown. Now with patience and application, the results will be pleasing.
— Val Thorburn
August 1987
Letter from Australia
Body Language – Take Care!
Scene – Any Suzuki music teacher’s studio.
Situation – A lesson in progress. The student is playing and is doing something incorrectly. The parent is making strangling-like movements, which the student can just see. Or the parent is breathing heavily with obvious disapproval. Or – the head is going from side to side without a word being uttered.
No words were necessary. The body movement said it all. That is the point of this short article. Many parents are totally unaware of what they are communicating to their child without having said a word.
Time and time again, I have seen a look of apprehension on a child’s face because of the child’s awareness of disapproval from the parent without one word having been spoken. This is a very damaging situation regarding the amount of self-confidence the child has.
I have seen some children almost wilt and immediately lose whatever confidence they had. It is absolutely essential that the parent NEVER EVER displays any sign of disapproval during a lesson. Teachers naturally understand how a parent feels when a child does something wrong, but parents must also understand that the teacher is constantly working from a positive viewpoint no matter what is going wrong.
This positivity is undermined if the parent, through some form of body language or through actually voicing disapproval, communicates this disapproval to the child.
The plea of this article is, therefore, this – please help the teacher to continually maintain a pleasant learning environment for your child.
— Eric Mitchell, Hobart
Tasmania, Australia
(Eric Mitchell is one of the pioneers of the Suzuki movement in Australia. He teaches his own students in Hobart and tutors throughout Australia and N.Z.)
