On Sunday, June 5, 2022, our Suzuki Violin, Flute, and Bass faculty, students and families all got together for our Spring Recitals. We had five recitals spread throughout the day showcasing the hard work of our students and their wonderful playing.
Photographs by Jaznina Santiago
Our Suzuki Piano Department had their Spring Piano Festival on Sunday, June 5th. This concert is a fun one full of collaborations with their teachers, parents, siblings, and friends. It also includes lots of music outside of the Suzuki repertoire.
Pieces performed included: The Typewriter, Over the Rainbow, Zorro’s Theme, Linus and Lucy, Watermelon Man, Take Five, Let it Go, and much, much more!
We are so proud of all of the wonderful performances by our Suzuki Piano Department!
Photos by Jaznina Santiago
We had piano students performing solos, the cello and bass students performing a Play Down Festival, and the advanced cello and bass students performing ensemble pieces like “Hedwig’s Theme” from Harry Potter, “The Pink Panther Theme”, and “Don’t Stop Believin'” by Journey.
Check out some pictures from this amazing event!
Before our Mid-Winter break (no classes Sunday, February 20 – Saturday, February 26) please register for our upcoming Suzuki Practice-A-Thon, which begins the day we come back from the break, Sunday, February 27, and culminates with the outdoor Suzuki Benefit on Saturday, March 12!
The two-week period of the Practice-A-Thon and Suzuki Benefit is an incredibly exciting and important time for the Suzuki program. This period is a chance to encourage and celebrate our students for their admirable growth and unparalleled commitment. It also allows us to raise financial aid for the program, so that a wider range of students might experience the benefits of the Suzuki method.
The entire Suzuki program will work together this year with two goals in mind: first, to beat last year’s Practice-A-Thon participation rate, then, to practice a certain amount during the two-week period in order to unlock perks for the in-person Suzuki Benefit on March 12.
We’ll be tracking student participation with a Cooperative Sundae, and there are exciting perks at each level! The more participation, the better the party (and the more ice cream)!
So, download the Suzuki Practice Tracker, register for the Practice-A-Thon on Do-Jiggy, and invite your friends and family to sponsor your child’s work! You can also visit the event website to make a donation, access a social media toolkit and more.
Happy practicing!
On February 5, 2022, BKCM had our annual Lunar New Year celebration to bring in the Year of the Tiger!
Suzuki students, Colton Choi, Alma Mister, and Jane Hawkins performed a popular Chinese folk song called “Jasmine” or “Mo Li Hua” in Chinese.
Thank you to our performers for playing for this special celebration!
Nora Friedman led an insightful Practice Strategies conversation with parents on Zoom on Wednesday, February 2nd.
One of the main topics discussed included doing your best to find empathy for your child when they’re having trouble with something. It can be tough at the end of a long day, when you’re trying to squeeze in a practice session to try to empathize with your child and how they might be feeling. We also discussed ways to show more empathy during practice time, and how to navigate times when kids are feeling anxious about doing something that seems challenging. Parents shared experiences with their children, and teachers offered advice and insights.
One idea that seemed really helpful: During practice time, imagine that your child is a friend who is telling you about an important experience they just had. Imagine what your reaction would be with a friend. This will most likely lead to a less critical perspective, and a friendlier demeanor than we might fall into with close family members, with whom we might feel frustrated or have very high expectations and hopes for. Sometimes an enthusiastic “WOW!” or “Do that again!” is a great way to buy more time.
There were also a number of resources that came up that might be useful:
Daniel Pink’s book, Drive
Effortless Mastery, Kenny Werner
Inner Game of Music/Golf, etc.
Carol Dweck video on the importance of the TYPE of feedback we give to children to help them develop a growth mindset and cope with perfectionistic tendencies. Nora shared this alongside a caveat that one should view it with a grain of salt, and to keep in mind that we are all on a lifelong learning journey.
We were so happy to have the parents and teachers who joined us, and are looking forward to continuing the conversation to discuss other facets of practicing in the near future!
On October 17, 2021, the BKCM Suzuki Community celebrated Dr. Shinichi Suzuki’s birthday with cupcakes, snacks, and music performed by our faculty members!
Families gathered to celebrate and even sang “Happy Birthday” to Dr. Suzuki.
Paloma Ferrante, one of our Suzuki Cello Faculty members performed some solo Bach for our families.
Here is Shayna Dulberger, our Suzuki Bass teacher performing “Go Tell Aunt Rhody”, a Suzuki classic.
And some of our Violin and Guitar faculty teamed up to perform some Telemann Violin Concerto for four violins. Ty Citerman gave this piece a new sound by jumping in and performing the fourth violin part on guitar!
We hope you all had a great time, and look forward to celebrating Dr. Suzuki’s Birthday again next year!
We hope you had a wonderful and relaxing summer. Our Suzuki lessons and classes begin on Sunday, September 15. Have a great year!
Johnson String Instrument is scheduled for this Thursday, March 14, to deliver/ pick up any exchanges, returns as well as drop off any orders that have come in. If you need an exchange, let them know by Wednesday, March 13th at the latest.
The next two visits will be Thursday, April 11th, and Thursday May 9th.