Mineo Nakajima, Ph. D.
President
Suzuki Method, Talent Education Research Institute
3-10-3 Fukashi, Matsumoto-shi
Nagano-ken, 390-8511 Japan

Dear Mr Nakajima,
I hope this letter finds you and all of our Japanese Suzuki friends well and in good spirits.

The memory of Dr. Suzuki, and his legacy brought to us through so many revered colleagues from Japan over the last 40 years, reveals ideals of beauty, inspiration and life-changing wisdom, not only for our children and future generations, but also to every teacher and parent in the European Suzuki community moved by his remarkable attitude in life.

At the last European Suzuki Association board meeting, which took place right after the disastrous earthquake that shook Japan, the Board of Directors organised an initiative to raise some monies in order to help a little bit in lightening the burden that Suzuki families in Japan are experiencing during these hard times.

Our idea has been to combine fundraising with a collective moment of practice all over the ESA region.  On Saturday the 9th of April 2011, students practiced simultaneously from Ireland to Hungary, from Helsinki to Johannesburg.  We especially asked the students to practice with the intention of playing with a soulful tone, keeping in mind that a beautiful soul develops a beautiful tone.  This has been a small but significant step within the ESA for furthering our understanding and practice of Dr. Suzuki's philosophy.  In this way we raised a total of 55,272€.  We hope that our initiative will help a little with TERI's most urgent needs and I am grateful that the ESA allowed me to set this up as my last act as ESA's Chairman.  Our new Chairman, Martin Rüttimann, warmheartedly supported this initiative and will be your contact for any practical considerations.

Respectfully Yours,
 
Koen Rens

Croatia 257€  +  Great Britain 7,873€  +  Denmark 2,200€  +  Poland  813€  +  Sweden 1,664€  + 
Belgium  3,067€  +  Switzerland 1,785€ +  France  5,279€  +  Iceland 957€  +  Finland 2,517€  +
The Netherlands 3,624€  +  Norway 1,388€  +  Germany 5,966€  +  South Africa 230€  + 
Lithuania  909€  +   Spain 11,179€  +  Estonia 364€ + Faroe Islands 295€ +  Italy 4,135€ + USA 770€