Our Suzuki School musical season starts in September.  Now in our second month of October, we are in full swing.  This Sunday, October 20th at 11:45 am our students perform in the annual Harvest Fair in Newton Centre. This is a big tradition for our Suzuki violin students and a highlight for families of all ages to enjoy.  The following weekend our students will be celebrating Spooky Suzuki on Saturday, October 25th at 5 pm at Newton Presbyterian Church.  Wednesday, October 30th we are hosting a visit by the new Consul General of Japan stationed here in Boston...and of course, October 31st is Halloween with our Suzuki Preschool parade.  Yesterday, October 17th was Dr. Suzuki's birthday and he would have been 126 years old. Next week we celebrate our belief in the Suzuki philosophy by having Learning Pyramid week which includes our October Listening Challenge, Musicianship Curriculum Night (Wed. October 23rd at 7 pm) and our teachers are reaching out to parents to encourage them and provide feedback.  We can turn an empty calendar into one that is full of events.

All of these events have a purpose: to build our community.  We have these events to bring our student and parent body together.  We perform in the community to bring our friends, neighbors, and visitors to our performances so that we may grow and connect.  In a recent Suzuki Board meeting we discussed the need to build these connections.  Post-pandemic and in our current busy world, we are feeling that connections are missing.  Do you feel disconnected from our community?  Do you find that you would like to talk about your situations and lives with no one to discuss this with?  Do you feel new to the community and would like to connect more? These are the goals we seek by holding our recitals, concerts, events, and opportunities. Our Suzuki Board members (link to https://www.suzukinewton.org/administration-and-board) will be reaching out to our current families to talk with you and hear from you,

Yesterday, (Thursday) was also a volunteer day where eight people from JP Morgan Chase came to the Suzuki School to replant bulbs, paint our outdoor railings, and spruce up our historic building. Thanks to SSN parent Chaya Keshavamurthy, a project manager at JP Morgan, volunteers came together to get to know one another since many were from different divisions of JP Morgan, and also get to know us better as a non-profit community music school.  I would like to think that we went from "zero to one hundred" in creating a new connection to our volunteers. 

Music is like his, too.  We teach our students that they can create beautiful tone one note at a time.  From silence we play our first note. Dr. Suzuki teaches that we must play this one note beautifully, with our hearts and from our inner humanity.  We do not seek to play lots of notes moving our fingers technically and proficiently without the spirit that comes from inside us.  Dr. Suzuki said "Beautiful heart, beautiful tone."  As Suzuki teachers we value the student as a person first.  We need to educate our students to have a good heart, to be kind, to be respectful, to care for one another as priorities.  From there, we can play beautiful music.  We repeat the work of our pieces in very small details and subtleties that go beyond just the notes. We must take time in this process so that the music can be felt deeply and without technical barriers.  "The real essence of art turned out to be not something high up and far off--it was right inside my ordinary daily self.  If a musician wants to become a finer artist, he must first become a finer person." - Dr. Shinichi Suzuki (Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, Waltraud Suzuki (1983). “Nurtured by Love: The Classic Approach to Talent Education”, p.82, Alfred Music.)

In our Musicianship program, students learn the basics of ear training, note reading, music theory, and composition. Recently I have heard from a few parents that they are so excited because their children are writing their own music!  It is truly the epitome of creating something from nothing. When a student learns to write their own music, it is their own inner being released through the expression of their music.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Suzuki!