Suzuki Bass Newsletter from Virginia Dixon

From Virginia Dixon:

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to my annual letter announcing Suzuki Bass Teacher Training courses for 2012 in which I also share with you some of the newsy events of 2011.

This year I have two Book 1 courses to announce, one on either side of the North American continent!

My first west coast course will be at the Japan-Seattle Suzuki Institute (www.japanseattle.org/) from August 5 to 12. I am glad to better enable my west coast colleagues to attend, particularly following on the heels of my presentation, “Suzuki Secrets”, at the International Society of Bassists Convention in San Francisco in 2010. I hope all of you who established contact with me there can come. Many thanks to Anna Doak who was key in creating the course.

The second Book 1 course will be in Ypsilanti, MI at the Suzuki Institute at Phoenix Phest! Grande (www.phoenixensemble.com/) From August 12 to 19. I will be co-teaching with Derek Weller and Diana Gannett, so there should be plenty to experience during that long week. The area is surrounded by hotels, and camping is also available at the fair grounds.

My most scenic course will be my Book 2 course at the Colorado Suzuki Institute at Beaver Creek, Colorado from June 25 to June 30. This is resort condo living at its most reasonable and can be especially fun if you share a condo with other bassists! I can also advise you on how to camp in some glorious mountain scenery and where nearby bare bones hotels are. There is also very ample scholarship. Please check for details. The institute can be reached at www.coloradosuzuki.org or by calling (303) 399-5764.

My very first North American Book 5 course will be at the American Suzuki Institute at Stevens Point, Wisconsin from July 29 through August 4. ASI was the first and remains the most famous of the summer institutes. Here you can see the full gamut of Suzuki education as the student progresses from the earliest fun and games through an advanced chamber music program. The local camping can also spectacular! The institute can be contacted at www.uwsp.edu/cofac/suzuki or by phone at (715) 346-3033.

If you would like to see another course on the schedule, please let me know, and I may be able to run it in July right here in Chicago. I keep a list of names that I carry over from year to year. It is always a pleasure to hear from you!

Book 6 is now at the publisher, and we hope to have the bass part available soon. Be wary when buying Book 4. A Bass Book 4 cover has been slipped over the Recorder Book 1. The publisher is presently remedying this with the printer.

Scholarships are always available at institutes and the association (suzukiassociation.org/teachers/guides/scholarship/), and deadlines are generally February or March. Please do your research early. There has been much missing of deadlines, and I believe more bass candidates could receive scholarships. Many people want to see Suzuki Bass grow!

If you have any questions (and you may have many) please write me, or check with Stan Haskin’s excellent blog, Glued to the String at www.gluedtothestring.blogspot.com/2007/07/steps-to-suzuki-training-for-bassists.html. In addition to distilling a great deal of information that will make entry into the Suzuki world much easier, he has done a great interview with me and included some pictures. Enjoy!
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Also Jason Heath’s interview with me may be of interest at www.contrabassconversations.com. Mine is Contrabass Conversation No. 52. Jason does a wonderful job with his Double Bass Blog, and if you are not familiar with it, it is a gold mine of bass information.

You can also check my website at www.elmhurst.edu/~virginia/. It is my full intention to update it with new pictures and dates.

In July I traveled to winter in Buenos Aires and graduated my first two graduates of Book 5 ever, Santiago Calvetti, and Sergio Nievas! We continued celebrating by a day at an estancia in the countryside attended also by Santiago, tango performer Inés Rojas and my husband Mark. Sergio had to run off to youth orchestra meetings in Brazil.

Last year twelve new European Suzuuki Association Bass Teachers joined our ranks in Copenhagen when they passed their October ESA exams. Our next European course is scheduled for three times in 2012, March 16-20, June 1-5 and October 5-9 and exams on October 9-10. Levels I, II, and III will be offered, which takes people through Book 5. Much more information about their system is available at www.europeansuzuki.org/teacher_training.htm. For more course detail contact Claus and Marianne Rygner at rygner@gmail.com. Unfortunately SAA and ESA courses do not mix.

I hope to return to Lima, Peru in January, 2013. If you are interested please contact Caroline Fraser at www.suzukimusica.com.pe and let her know your needs. A trip to Peru can easily include a four-day adventure to ancient Cuzco and mysterious Machu Picchu.

Last of all, if you are a teaching member of Suzuki Association of the Americas, please add a profile of yourself at www.suzukiassociation.org/teachers/teacherloc/. This includes teachers in both South and North America. If you are a European teacher, then notify Sue Wimpeney directly at esa@europeansuzuki.org and please ask to be listed as taking new students. Many of you h who are not could profit by listing with your association.

I hope to see you soon!

With best wishes to each of you,

Virginia Dixon