Re-ordering chaos and bringing hope - Suzuki Method™ in GERMANY

Koen Rens talk to SuzukiMusik Deutschland 2011 e.V. (SMD) 5.2.26

This morning was a revisit to one of the good things that came out of the pandemic: the chance for many people to sit in the comfort of their own homes and have wonderful wisdom delivered to their laptops.

Koen Rens was generous in giving us an hour and a half of his time, and began by telling us he wouldn’t be telling us anything new.  But he is such a passionate communicator that every sentence he spoke felt as though we were receiving the knowledge for the very first time.

Just as the message he shared reminded us, as Suzuki teachers we are helping children find their voices to communicate. We can allow that to unfold if we stand back and observe carefully how they communicate with us.

His talk was peppered with heart-wrenching, poignant videos of Suzuki students he has encountered from around the world—children of all nationalities showing their ability to play.  In one case, a cellist played in a large ensemble despite having only one hand, yet made music together with everyone. Every child can.

I would urge all teachers to remember that wherever you are in your Suzuki journey—whether you are in training or a long-in-the-tooth teacher of many decades—the inspiration of listening to other teachers and sharing our own experiences is so empowering. 

Koen told us how, as a teenager, he used his violin as a tool to reorder the world, the shapes and consistency of the music having an anchoring power. Today, his reflections on the foundations of the Suzuki Philosophy did exactly that: reordering the chaos and bringing hope and inspiration back into our daily teaching lives.

Thank you to Koen, Flora, and Yoko for making this possible.

Janine Zillmann, Teacher Trainer