NZ Suzuki Journal Summer 1999 – The Pan Pacific Suzuki Conference, Adelaide
At the Pan Pacific, I had a great time working with some of the teachers and meeting the tutors and other students. It was a great experience for me and also for Mum, being able to observe the master classes. The enrichment classes were really cool. We did things like rhythm, and some fun reading games. There was also a bell class, which was my favourite, and lots of others that were fun as well.
In the bell class, we used the bells and sometimes the piano to compose our own music. We played melodies, and then composed the harmony. It was great! Some of the concerts were magnificent, for example, the Faculty Concert. Mum and I found the performances exquisite. The harpists were great too.
Michi Hirata North was a teacher who liked things to be perfect. She is a warm and quiet person and a very good teacher, and I enjoyed working with her. Doris Koppelman was a very pleasant teacher who liked to see pianists do well. I really enjoyed Doris. She was a great teacher and a very nice person.
Nehama Patkin was a dramatic and outgoing teacher. She was lots of fun, and loved to dance and do lots of movement. She always kept us on our feet. Jon was a cool person who made his own instruments out of stuff like old pipes and scraps. He had a great musical imagination and had all the children and parents marching around the university playing different tunes and rhythms he had composed.
It was my first time in Australia, and now I’ve seen it I want to go back. The shopping in Adelaide was great, and there were lots of things to do in the afternoons when we weren’t doing music. The Cleveland Wildlife Park was probably my favourite place to visit, and the Museum and Art Gallery had some fantastic exhibits, especially the stuffed animals and the Egyptian exhibitions.
I think that attending the Pan Pacific helped me as a musician, not just a pianist. The phrasing and balance in my music have improved, and I am very glad that I went. Apart from that, I made lots of new friends and generally had a neat time.
Alex Shirtcliff-Scott (11), Christchurch