Suzuki Germany inspired by Graduation Workshop!

By Doris

01st May 2025

On Sunday, April 6, 2025, very special training days came to an end in Hof:

Lectures and workshops on the topic of “Graduation Pieces” took place at the Haus der Musik and the Klangmanufaktur.

Helen Brunner (UK, violin) and Annette Costanzi (UK, cello) introduced the topic at the opening ceremony on Friday by recounting exciting episodes from their stay in Japan with Dr. Suzuki and from their personal treasure trove of experience and by presenting the “Graduation System” (UK).

Their descriptions and explanations were inspiring and convincing, so that the wish arose to set up this system in their own country: Not only does it serve as a tool to improve the quality of teaching and music-making for students, it also contributes to networking and cooperation between teachers.

Following this introduction, Annette Costanzi worked with the participants (cellos) and Helen Brunner (violins) on the Graduation Pieces for levels 1 to 7, which were performed in a concert at the end of the weekend.

It was very exciting to once again get to know and revisit new perspectives and teaching emphases during this workshop. The instructors were exceptionally good at filling the lessons with a variety of elements, so that time flew by far too quickly.

A large part of the weekend was also dedicated to “Music Mind Games”:

These are music theory games developed by Michiko Yurko (Suzuki Piano teacher/USA) that teach children the basics of music theory using an innovative curriculum with the help of games and colorful materials.

Under the direction of Renia Kossakowska-Lichtor (Poland), the participants were able to get to know some of the more than 300 games in theory, but above all in practice through their own playing, which added a lot of variety to the whole workshop: very funny hours - also for adults (!) - with endless ideas for their own lessons!

If you are interested, you can find out more online at www.musicmindgames.com.

Many thanks to Flora Gáll and her organizational team (Gabriele Jahn & Sirarpi Samvelyan) for the perfect preparation of the workshop, which also included plenty of refreshments during the breaks. Two dinners with all participants and speakers in the restaurant rounded off the event and provided plenty of opportunity for stimulating discussions! Thank you very much!

The date for the next training course in 2026 has already been set:

March 13 to 15, 2026 - save the date, it's worth it!

Doris Estermann

SuzukiMusik Deutschland 2011 e.V. (SMD)

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