| BriAnn Christensen - "Beautiful tone. Beautiful heart." ...Born from a Beautiful Mess Are Dr. Suzuki's ideals still achievable in the year 2024? Can we expect our children to achieve excellence even in-less-than-ideal circumstances? Come discuss practical ideas for implementing the Suzuki method in our modern home and family lives. Crystal Boyack - Teaching Wee Musicians: Joyfully and Musically from the First Lesson to Twinkle Celebrating the release of her newest books, Wee Viola and Wee Cello, Crystal Boyack will offer practical applications of how to use world music to joyfully and musically go from the first lesson to Twinkle. In this interactive presentation, participants will bring out their inner child - singing and moving -- while organically building focus, engagement and yes, even technique. Come ready to fill your toolbox with new ways to engage young beginners, build technique, and make beginning lessons more musical and joyful.
Jenny Wadsworth - There is No Such Thing as a Dragon: New Insights to Suzuki Education for the Rising Generation Have you ever thought, “What’s wrong with my child/student? It seems like it should be easier than this!!” Truly, we live in a much different time than Dr. Suzuki and we need new insight to have a good experience for the rising generation….and for ourselves as parents and teachers.
Kari Spicer - Harmonizing Abilities: Strategies for Parents to Empower Neurodivergent Musicians This session will explore innovative strategies and best practices for parents to support their neurodivergent child in becoming a successful musician. Parents will gain valuable insights into adapting teaching methods to meet the unique needs of their neurodivergent child, fostering a better practice environment with practice resources to engage the student.
LaReita Berky - Intentional Connections for Improving Music and Musicians LaReita Berky holds a Bachelor of Cello Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and a Master’s of Social Work from Winthrop University. In this presentation she will combine her experience as a professional musician and teacher of 20 years with her knowledge of mental health and being a therapist the past 2 years. Attendees will learn about the power of words and their direct effect, including how to get your daily D.O.S.E. of happy hormones.
Logan McKinney - To Sing On Their Instruments: Considering Kodály Musicianship in the Suzuki Philosophy In her pioneering article "The Suzuki Approach," Louise Behrend makes the following admonition: "Since we cannot assume that our students are learning to read music in school, we, the Suzuki teachers, must start well ahead of the Book 4 level preparing the students to read. We must do all the introductory and preparatory work of teaching the children to recognize and realize music notation. And we must do it ourselves. Many Suzuki programs in this country are taking care of this by offering Dalcroze, Orff, Kodály, or a mixture of the three to their beginning students. . . . Since not every Suzuki program or teacher has a general-music program to reinforce the training of reading, it seems to me that Suzuki teachers must be prepared to do this training themselves." The focus of this session will be helping participants find ways to better prepare their students for meaningful music reading literacy through exploring aspects of the Kodály philosophy of music education and its application to the Suzuki approach.
Marcus Hardy - Difficult Conversation Dodgeball How to find and stay on message when all you want to do is run or yell "I don't like confrontation," is a catchphrase we hear often, but it also implies the existence of überhumans that naturally like tough conversations. Homoconfrutatianus is a myth — our brains are wired to avoid confrontation, danger and discomfort — but we can learn to be better in these situations and even enjoy the process of navigating them. Come learn some tools, practice techniques, and make some friends.
Mira Larson - Moving the Music: Dalcroze Eurhythmics as Musicianship Training Émile Jaques-Dalcroze (1865-1950) was the father of modern music education. His method, Eurhythmics, uses body movement as a process for internalizing musical concepts. Come discover how Dalcroze methodology can complement Suzuki training.
Molly Cowley - Build Community: Attract Your Dream Studio Families Our studio communities will be as unique as each of us. In this breakout you will hone exactly what kind of students/families you are looking for and how to design a culture that will draw them in. Accept your role as the leader of your community and build it in a conscious way, and you will be amazed at the impact you can make! Once you have your vision, follow four steps to make it a reality: Assumption, Modeling, Recognition and Expansion.
Molly Cowley - Harness the Power of Your Child's Environment It's been said that the environment is the first teacher. Your child is amazing and naturally absorbs everything around them! And you can harness that ability to support your musical efforts with your child. In this breakout, we'll discuss setting up your child's physical, emotional, social and intellectual environments to make your job easier and more effective.
Peter Romney - Adapting to Learning Disabilities: You Already Have the Resources Medical science is identifying and giving names to an increasing number of learning disabilities in both children and adults. While visual, auditory, and motor difficulties might present diagnosed students with challenges, they also provide an opportunity for students to discover their own unique learning path. |
