Branch news v11n2
Auckland branch news
The Auckland Branch Annual Public Concert will be held on 24th June at 7 pm at the Auckland Girls Grammar School.
In May, Joachim and Karen Neupert, together with Martin Riseley and James Tennant, presented a very good concert at St. Mary’s Church, Parnell, with an invitation to Suzuki families. It was a very good opportunity for families to attend a concert together (Concert review appears later in this newsletter).
On 6th June, the Academy for Development through Music has two courses starting. One is a parents’ introduction course on Tuesday mornings. The other is a teacher training course. There are still a few places available. For more information, please contact Karen and Joachim Neupert at phone 888-411.
The 19th August is the end of term concert for students of Karen and Joachim Neupert. Looking further ahead is the Annual Summer Camp at Snells Beach 13-19th January 1990. Roll on Summer! Again, contact Karen or Joachim.
The teacher-training for Suzuki piano held in February had a good attendance. Evan Short was the tutor and Dorothy Kerr gave a talk on composition. Piano students were invited to play.
There will be a Piano Workshop on 18th June at Auckland College of Education organised by Fleur Chea. Tutors include Margaret Crawshawe, Josie Plumber, Dora Harmesa, Dorothy Kerr, Cath Gardner, and Betty Noffke.
Sophie Bartigan’s studio will be presenting a concert for the New Zealand-Japan Society of Auckland on Wednesday 21st June at 7.30 pm. Sophie will be giving a talk about the Suzuki method and presenting some videos of Dr. Suzuki and his Matsumoto students.
Sophie has been invited to Christchurch on June 28th to give a lecture at the University of Canterbury on the Suzuki Method. In the evening, she will be giving a talk about the Suzuki Method to the Society for Music Education in Christchurch and leading a group of students from Lois Routledge’s studio in a demonstration concert.
The Auckland Branch committee has continued its monthly meetings and we now have a team that is really pulling together and supporting each other.
Hamilton Branch News
A piano workshop was held in Hamilton on 11th and 12th May. Our teacher, Mahama Patkin from Melbourne, has drawn on teaching philosophies and techniques of Suzuki, Dalcroze, Orff and Kodaly.
Besides piano tuition for the fifty students she gave a daily movement class which created great interest and enthusiasm.
Twenty teachers observed Mahama’s lessons and also attended two afternoon sessions for teachers only. Pupils, teachers and parents had two very enjoyable days in the presence of Mahama’s sparkling personality.
I would like to thank all those who helped at the workshop, dinner and video session to make it such a success.
Shirley Newland
This is a report on the last Suzuki Cello Week, 15-19 May 1989 at Hillcrest Normal School, Hamilton, with Kathy Shelhart.
12 Suzuki cello students from Auckland, Colville, Hamilton, Te Awamutu and Wellington enjoyed an intensive week with Kathy Shelhart, a Suzuki Strings Teacher Trainer from Melbourne. Kathy is an inspiring teacher, and we thank Joanne Parsons for asking Kathy to come and discussing programme requirements with her. The objectives were to provide concentrated tuition in Suzuki Cello for the students, parent education and teacher training for existing and would-be Suzuki cello teachers. Observers were welcomed.
Student enrolments were limited to 12, so that each had a daily morning lesson with Kathy; the afternoons were filled by a parent session, group play-in and teacher training. Kathy worked hard from 8.30am – 5.00pm and was kind enough to say she went away feeling refreshed by everyone’s enthusiasm. Erica Colbert and Barry Langdon added valuable cello ensemble, music reading and writing to the programme. A public concert on the Thursday evening was videoed and is available from the Suzuki Institute Video Library. We were thrilled with the standard reached by the children, none above Intermediate School age.
“Will there be a cello week next year, and can you make sure we hear about it?”
Kathy Shelhart says she would be happy to come again, and has made a number of suggestions that would enable us to offer more places to cello students, also more opportunities for violin and viola players in chamber music, so watch the Suzuki Newsletter for a progress report after Napier Conference. Let the Hamilton Branch know of your interest; suggestions and offers to help with organisation will be welcomed.
Raewyn Johnston for Cello Week Organising Committee.
Hawkes Bay Branch News
Things have been proceeding quietly in Hawkes Bay of recent months and there is little to report save that there was a successful May play-in and that preparations for the Annual National Conference in September have been proceeding in the background. With the tutors whom we have engaged and the venues booked we have all the makings of a great conference — except enrolments!
Disappointingly, enrolments have been slow. It hasn’t been all bad — enrolments from the South Island have been pleasing. But we know that there are lots of people still intending to enrol. And you still can! We have extended the deadline. But please, people, we have to know. Arrangements have to be set in place, tutors confirmed in appropriate numbers. So find that form, fill it in, and put it in the post. If you’ve lost it, write in anyway with what you think we want to know. We can send a form back to you if necessary.
We are offering tuition in Violin, Viola, Piano, Cello and Flute.
The address is: “Conference N.Z.S.I.”
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South Island Branch News
The three-day violin workshop held during the May holidays, with Cathy Shepheard as guest tutor, was most successful. The workshop was well represented by pupils and teachers from Oamaru, Timaru, Queenstown, Darfield, Reefton and Christchurch.
Preparations are well underway for the 3rd South Island Suzuki Camp to be held at Bryndwr (Oxford/Cust area) on 15-20 Jan, 1990. Guest tutors are to be Margery Aber (U.S.A.) and Yasuki Nakamura (Sydney).
Interested piano teachers met at the May violin workshop to discuss the possibilities of training in the South Island.
The South Island Branch AGM is to be held on 5 Aug at St Mark’s Church, Withells Road, Christchurch.
Lois Routledge,
Chairperson,
South Island Branch.
Wellington Branch News
Our last committee meeting was held on Friday April 27th. At this meeting it was agreed that the draft proposals for changes to the rules of the Institute be carried forward to the agenda of the SGM. Our next committee meeting will be held on Friday June 16th.
We have raised the sum of $180.00 from the sale of the listening pads and this money has been placed in a scholarship fund account. We hope that this account will continue to grow and that in the future we may have sufficient funding to award scholarships to Wellington branch members.
We shall in the near future be organising some fund raising projects to raise money to assist the Institute defray the shortfall in the Dr. Suzuki account, this will be discussed at the next committee meeting.
We have completed two very successful workshops in Wellington in these May holidays.
The first being a three day Teacher Training workshop for Piano with Mahama Patkin. There was a very good turnout to this workshop attracting interested people from outside the Wellington area. Mahama also spent an evening with the Wellington Branch of the IRMT.
The second workshop was for Violin over 2 days, featuring Sophie Bartigan and Kathy Shepheard, our guest tutors and two local tutors Hilary Drake and Anna Goodbehere. It was a very busy time for all but without a doubt most enjoyable.
For the months ahead there will be the usual studio concert culminating in July with our winter family concert of combined studios. We have again been invited to provide a program for a lunch time concert at St Andrews on the Terrace. This will take place later in the year.
Our first Branch Newsletter went out in April and another is due out soon. It’s a simple format, a single page flier. Distribution takes place through the various studios, and deals mainly with things of local interest.
We are happy to report that four teachers of the Cello have indicated their interest in the Suzuki method. This interest is being carefully nurtured and encouraged.
We are all now looking forward to this year’s conference in Napier.
Buck Page,
Chairperson,
Wellington Branch.