We are very excited to be running our Summer Camp this year, from Monday July 15th – Friday July 19th, 2024! Each student will receive 3 hours per day of high-level musical instruction from our own wonderful teachers as well as time with their peers and our Teen Counsellors, doing crafts, games (indoors and outdoors) and some supervised free time. 



The Instrumental Camp for children aged 5 to 13 with at least one year of Suzuki music instruction in violin, viola, cello or guitar is a great way to keep musicianship skills fresh, learn new things, have fun and make memories with friends old and new.  

NEW THIS YEAR!!! The Half-Day Intro to Violin Camp for children aged 2.5 to 5 with no previous musical experience is a great way to kick off your child’s musical journey! 

We will also be running a summer session of our popular Headstart program for children aged 2.5 to 5 and their guardians.

Please click here for more information and to register.

Our students and faculty are busy preparing the repertoire for our Viva Suzuki celebration concert taking place in one month on Saturday May 11th at 10 am. This year we will be performing in the Canterbury HS auditorium.

Admission is pay what you can.

New this year we will be organizing a Silent Auction fundraiser! (see below)

Families, please feel comfortable bringing your young children to this event, we will have a special seating area set up where young children can move their bodies and enjoy some colouring pages while listening to the concert.

We are excited to present a very special Silent Auction for Viva Suzuki!

We have had some wonderful donations come through. We will have a table set up at the venue for making your bids before and after Viva Suzuki. Bidding will then remain open online for one week after Viva Suzuki with the bid winners being announced on Saturday May 18th.

We thank:

Broadway Across Canada for donating two pairs of tickets to Six the Musical

Birch Bark Coffee for donating a gift basket

Company of Fools for donating their Summer Show package which includes two tickets in the "Royal Box", snacks and merch.

A local quartet featuring George Stathopoulos, violin 

Kenda Stathopoulos, violin, Caren Abramoff, viola 

and Emma Grant-Zypchen, cello  

Kanata Theatre for donating two tickets to a main stage play

Laura Thomas, BA, CH, 5-PATH®, Certified Hypnotist, for donating a hypnosis session.

Natalie Deschenes for donating a work of arts and crafts

The National Arts Centre for donating orchestra vouchers

Ottawa Little Theatre for donating two tickets to the opening night of the Norm Foster Comedy, Hilda’s Yard, on Wednesday, July 17

Ottawa School of Art for their donation

Strings and Things for donating 3 amazing gift packs for violin, guitar and cello.

Its not too late to add an item to the silent auction! If you own or know a small business owner who would like to donate merch or gift certificate in exchange for mentions in our newsletters, our website and on social media please contact Susan at volunteer@suzukimusic.ca before May 3rd, 2024.





Do you own a small business or know someone who does? We offer various advertising packages for each school year, beginning with Viva Suzuki in May and ending the following April. We have different packages to suit different budgets. Our bimonthly newsletters go out to a readership of over 300. Please click here for more information or contact Susan at volunteer@suzukimusic.ca if you have questions or would like more information.

Thank you for considering supporting our music school with your advertising.

Do you have tickets to see The Amazing Planet Earth at the NAC on Sunday April 21st at 3:30 PM? There are very very few tickets remaining to this show.

Students and Faculty from our music school will be set up before the concert to allow children the chance to see, touch and hear the instruments we teach. Stop by and say hi if you'll be at the NAC that afternoon!

On Saturday March 2nd our Guitar, Viola and String Ensembles put on a lovely concert for an enthusiastic audience. We are proud of how well prepared each Ensemble was. Congratulations to all participants!

Thank you Graham Ashford for the photos.

Last Sunday was our annual Family and Friends Concert. Groups included parents and their children, 3 generation ensembles, Aunts and Uncles performing with nieces and nephews, sibling duos, friends playing together and 6 senior students from Judy's studio performing together. We heard Henry Mancini, Mozart, Maroon 5, Jeremy Cohen, Robert Schumann, Joachim Johow and traditional folk songs. This concert is always a special one and this year was no exception. Thank you to all participants, audience members and volunteers!

Thank you Graham Ashford for the photos.

On Thursday April 25th at 7:30 PM our AD and Cello Faculty Emma Grant-Zypchen, a SuzukiMusic parent Mikael Swirp, and friends of SuzukiMusic Kenda and George Stathopoulos and Caren Abramoff will be performing at First Baptist Church on Laurier with net proceeds going to the Ottawa Food Bank.

NAC - Instrument Petting Zoo

Sunday April 21st, 2:30PM - 3:20PM

National Arts Centre, 1 Elgin St, Ottawa, ON K1P 5W1

Viva Suzuki 

Saturday, May 11, 10AM to 11:15 AM

Canterbury HS, 900 Canterbury Ave, Ottawa, ON K1G 3A7

Spring Studio Recitals

Sunday, May 26th

Orleans United Church , 1111 Orléans Blvd, Orléans, ON K1C 7C8-

2PM - Judy's studio

Saturday, June 1

Bells Corners United Church, 3955 Old Richmond Rd, Ottawa, ON K2H 5C5

12:00 - 1:30 - Keite's Studio

1:45 - 3:30 - Sonya and Emma's studio 

4:00 - 7:00 - Daniel and Chela's studio

Sunday, June 2  

Bells Corners United Church, 3955 Old Richmond Rd, Ottawa, ON K2H 5C5

3 - 3:45 pm -Margaret's studio 

4:00 - 5:15pm - Ursa, Janice, Erik, and Jenna's studios

Senior Solo Recital

Saturday, June 8

Bells Corners United Church, 3955 Old Richmond Rd, Ottawa, ON K2H 5C5

1st recital at 11:15am, 2nd recital at 1:00pm



A Measure of Progress

by Susan Baer

From the video series Parents As Partners Online 2016

When we embark on a project as important as preparing our children for the role that music will play in their lives, it’s only natural that we concern ourselves with a host of issues. Once our major decisions are made such as choosing an instrument and selecting a teacher, we become absorbed in the initial stages of learning the basics. Things like establishing good practice skills, making habits of good position and producing a beautiful tone. 

Inevitably, we start to ask, “So…how are we doing? How do we stack up against the other families in our program? In our area? Or at institutes?”

We certainly have many models outside of the Suzuki method that encourage us to take measurements and make comparisons. We have growth and development charts for infants to see how each child compares to the norm. In school, we have graded tests to measure the degree to which the child has understood and learned the subject matter. In this classroom environment, regardless of the individual child’s earned grade, the whole class moves on to the next unit. 

You might find some similarities to these benchmarks in the way that the Suzuki repertoire is organized. Perhaps relating the pieces to units and the books to grade levels. But that’s where the similarities end. The differences in measuring each student’s progress are vast. 

First of all, there is no test to determine the readiness to move on to a new piece, but rather readiness is gauged by the teacher’s continuous assessment of skills. There are no grades awarded to this progress. In the Suzuki method, once we learn a piece, we continue to review it. We elevate the music to a higher level of performance and understanding with each visitation. Assigning a grade becomes senseless when pieces are experienced on a continuum. We may move on to a higher book, but we never abandon our pieces since they remain works in progress. 

The Suzuki repertoire is carefully selected so that skills are acquired in sequence. In order to achieve success, each skill must be mastered before another layer can be added. Just because the notes in a piece have been learned and memorized, does not necessarily mean that the inherent skills have been mastered. Accumulating repertoire is not our ultimate goal. Rather, our focus is on developing the student’s excellent technical skills flexibility, ease of playing confidence, independence, group skills and fine character. The emphasis is on quality rather than quantity. 

While the Suzuki philosophy teaches us that every child can learn, every child will develop at a different rate. There are so many factors that will influence a child’s rate of progress that it is impossible to fairly compare one child to another. Consider the following differences among individual children. 

• Physical differences: Some children seem born to play a particular instrument. Simple traits such as joint flexibility, limb length or reflex speed might influence how easy it is to learn an instrument, but these elements won’t affect the overall potential of reaching a high level of performance. More severe differences such as autism spectrum, hearing loss, or processing disorders will certainly slow progress, but the benefits of learning an instrument are perhaps even more dramatic. 
• Environmental factors: Allergies, medications, nutrition, lack of sufficient sleep, or even the distraction from ambient noise can all make it very difficult for a child to focus and concentrate during practice—abilities which are crucial to making progress. 
• Learning differences: Some children need to hear something to learn it easily. Some need to see it. Some need to figure it out for themselves. It’s a rare child who only needs to repeat a section only five times in order to make it easy; most will need many more. It’s for this reason that Dr. Suzuki said “Ability equals knowledge plus 10,000 times.” The important thing is to tailor instruction and practice to the needs of the child. 
• Family makeup and priorities: The number of working parents in the home, the number of siblings, the number of activities that fill a child’s schedule. The importance and priority allocated to musical activities. Even the number of Parents as Partners Videos viewed by the parent. All of these factors will have an effect on the child’s ability and desire to make progress, and the parent’s ability to help him or her. 
• The establishment of practice habits: Let me reiterate that I mean practice habits which place the priority on developing excellent technical and musical skills as well as a beautiful attitude and character. How much importance is placed on listening and review? Does practice occur daily and at a time when energy and attention are good? In determining the amount of time spent practicing, is there a balance between the time needed to cover lesson assignments and consideration for what is appropriate for the age and temperament of the child? Is the time spent practicing used efficiently? Are practice sessions most often positive experiences for both parent and child? 
• Expectations and standards vary from teacher to teacher. It’s’ important to find a good fit for you and your child. Fortunately, because of the shared philosophy, as well as the extensive training and mentorship available amongst Suzuki teachers, there’s likely to be a general agreement and consistency whether you move across the country or encounter new teachers at workshops and institutes. 

Your child is unique. Your situation is unique. There is no true comparison to be made. If you want to assess your child’s progress, ask yourself these questions. 

Is my child gaining fluency on her instrument? 

Are his listening skills becoming more refined?

Are they gaining independence through self-evaluation?

Are we all putting forth our best effort? 

Is our understanding and love of music growing? 

And most importantly: 

Is my child developing fine character and a beautiful heart?

Susan Baer is a freelance violinist and violin teacher residing on Whidbey Island in Washington State. In her four decades of experience with the Suzuki method, Susan has run a thriving private studio, co-founded a Suzuki school, organized workshops, taught in a long-term training program, and served on the board of directors of her local foundation. Susan is in high demand as a Suzuki clinician and registered SAA violin teacher trainer. She has served as area coordinator for six SAA conferences, has been published in the SAA journal, and has served two terms on the SAA Board of Directors. Dr. Baer holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree, a Master of Music degree in violin performance, and a PhD in fine arts.