Joint Studio Recital
Saturday, June 2
Centretown United Church,
507 Bank St.
11:15 - 12:45 - Carol
1:00 - 2:00 - Brandon
2:00 - 2:45 - Essie
3:00 - 4:30 - Margaret
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SuzukiMusic is funded by
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| City of Ottawa Arts Funding |
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Thank you to all of our Sponsors!
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Parent Education Corner
Summer Practice Ideas
submitted by Judy Olmstead-O'Regan
- YOUNGER STUDENTS
- Focus on 1 posture point all summer
- Practice tour - play a piece in every room of the house
- Get together with another Suzuki family. Have the kids play together, even if it is Twinkle, and then have a BBQ or snack.
- Pair up with an older musician who can be a practice buddy to your younger child.
- Try to hire a musician as your summer babysitter.
- Play a Skype concert for a different relative each week.
- Monopoly. Create a monopoly board (Bristol board and markers) with practice jobs on each square. Build up points and rewards. Be creative by including silly things on your board as well. Instead of "Going to Jail," your child might have to make a bow hold while lying on the floor, standing on one leg, walking around the garden, etc. For the "Chance" cards, have them answer musicianship questions relating to what they have learned during the past year, such as find an "a" on your instrument, name the notes of one line of your study, say the notes of the G Scale backwards with your eyes closed. Humor is a wonderful tool. Use it whenever possible!
- Bingo Using your child's name, create a bingo game (Bristol board, markers, small envelopes and old business cards.) Your child's name spelled across the top of the board will create the columns. Now make as many as you want columns going down the board. Mark off your boxes and put a number in each one. Paste an envelope onto each box. Write an activity onto a business card and put one into each envelope. Your child picks a column (letter across the top and box number, B 3), opens the envelope, does what it says and places a marker on that square. When all the squares in a row are done, yourchild gets to... whatever you decide. This game will take an evening of your time to create, but can be used for years. You just have to update the jobs on the business cards as they develop new skills.
- Summer Story If you will be practicing at a cottage, Grandmas', or another new place, have your child create a story that incorporates the names of his/her review pieces. Much of the beginning repertoire can be used in stories about camping, relatives, journeys, etc. (Lightly Row, Aunt Rhody, Song of the Wind, etc.) You can read the story at practice time and your child plays each piece as it comes up.
- Frequent Practice Cards (from Carol Deaville's studio) Based on the "Frequent Flyer" model, I give out 3X5 cards, numbered 1 - 50 (or whatever number you choose - it depends upon what is considered the official "start" of summer practice between teacher and student). For each day of practice/playing, place a sticker or stamp over the number and continue this throughout the summer. At summer's end, the child chooses a prize from a "treasure chest" if the agreed upon number of days played is reached.
- Another idea is to "grow a garden." Either drawn on paper, or built from pieces of construction paper glued onto a larger piece of paper, add a stem, leaf, or petal of a flower for each day of practice. By summer's end, you have a beautiful garden with each part of the flower representing a day's worth of playing.
- OLDER STUDENTS
- Regular practice, review, and listening are still a must for this group, but musical friends play a more important part. Creating opportunities for kids to get together can really boost enthusiasm and motivation for practice.
- Attend a summer camp or institute.
- Find a practice buddy and get together regularly. Play duets.
- Practice new repertoire and put on a concert for friends, relatives or neighbors. Make a CD of your concert for Grandma for her birthday.
- Try a new style of music for fun - fiddle, movie tunes, jazz, etc.
- Set a repertoire goal for your child this Summer
- Listen to music yourself to remind you of your hopes and dreams for your child.( Music Festivals all Summer in Ottawa)
- Read about motivation- " Helping Parents Practice" by Edmund Sprunger
- Make a master plan - Sit down with your child and your family calendar. Block off times when you can't practice ( holidays, visitors, etc) and then create a schedule for when you will. Doing this together takes the pressure off you when your child asks to skip practice one day. You can just remind him/her that you must stick to the schedule. Even though your child will protest, this will not damage their attitude towards music. It sends the message that you value this discipline and your time together.
- You might have to:
- Practice under a tree while watching your other child on the soccer field. Practice before leaving for the day
- Go to your child's camp/school during lunch
- Hire a teenager to watch the little one while you work with your musician child
- Organize CD's and music books to be where you are - car, home, cottage, Grandma's, etc.
- SILLY REVIEW CARDS
- Using old business cards, create 2 piles. One pile contains the name of 1 review piece per card. The other pile contains 1 silly way to review:
- standing on 1 foot
- eyes closed
- softly
- as loudly as possible
- in the bathroom
- laying on the floor marching while playing
- Your silly cards can also highlight musical concepts: Allegro Presto Largo PastoraL or moods: sadly happily angry smoothly
- RESOURCES:
- www.suzukimusic.ca
- www.thepracticeshoppe.com
- www.susanparadis.com
- www.meredithstrings.com
- www.thesoundpost.com - check out their supply of resource books and music.
- Book by Ed Sprunger - Helping Parents Practice - a practical guide to practicing with your child
- Ottawa Summer Music Festivals: www.ottawafestivals.ca
Click
here for a PDF of a list of 100 (musical) Things to Do in the Summer.
Click
here to download a PDF version of the above article.
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A Message from our Artistic Director:
Dear Families,
Dr. Suzuki once said, "
Where love is deep, much can be accomplished"
. This rings true throughout SuzukiMusic in every aspect of the school. Our board and administration work hard to ensure that our school is well supported and involved in the Ottawa-Gatineau community, and our faculty is comprised of dedicated educators who work tirelessly to share the gift of music with our students. Parents of the Suzuki school are dedicated to their children's education and success, and we have students who look forward to the skills, friendships, and relationships they are able to develop in this wonderful, musical community. As Suzuki discusses, it all comes down to love and the development of beautiful people.
Our theme this year, "
A Celebration of Life"
has given our community much to celebrate. First and foremost, our senior guitar students performed for the unveiling of the new Ottawa Public Library in front of the mayor as well as Sarah McLaughlin. Secondly, we expanded the musical palate of our senior string students with our new optional enrichment program. Finally, we look back on so many exciting concerts such as our Jr and Sr. Ensembles concert, Faculty Benefit Concert, Family and Friends Concert, and many more. This year we also had the opportunity to celebrate SuzukiMusic's 30th Birthday with our annual play-in.
As a school, we were able to come together to learn, make music, and celebrate the accomplishments, as well as the lives of teachers and people who have grown with us throughout the years.
I wish all of you a wonderful summer! Thank you, and congratulations to all of the faculty, students, and parents for everything that you've accomplished this year - you are all worth celebrating!
Thank you,
Alexandria Givens
Artistic Director
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ONLINE Registration
2018/2019 School Year
Brand New students - Welcome!! Once you have connected with your new teacher he or she will send you the links for registration.
Returning students - Your teacher has sent you an email with access to registration for the coming school year. You will be given a link to your teacher's specific web page and an access password. Once in, simply follow the steps to complete your registration!
Please email our IT volunteer, Rolly Aubrey, at
[email protected] i
f you encounter any problems in the process of filling out the form.
After completing the online registration, you will receive a registration confirmation email from the school. Please print that out and bring it along with your payment to your teacher by no later than
Friday, June 1st.
After that day, a late registration fee will be applied.
We are looking forward to our 2018/2019 school year!
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Instrument Rentals
If you have a rental instrument from our rental fleet they are due back after your studio recital, unless you are renewing your rental for the 2017-2018 school year. Please contact Susan at
[email protected]
to arrange return or send new rental agreement and payment to our office (address listed above left) by June 1st, 2018.
Click here
to download new rental agreement.
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Kiwanis Update
Congratulations
to all
Participants!
Congratulations to:
Guitar Students Rebeca Iznardo (RCM7) and Justin Laalo (RCM6) selected for provincials.
Guitar student Bridget (RCM 5 gold medal)
Guitar student Cristina Duran (RCM 5 silver medal)
Cello students Leila Roberton, Torin Gauld, Callum Gauld and Samuel Walker for being invited to perform at the Showcase concert.
Cello student Samuel Walker in
Junior Strings Grade 6
1st place in Sonata Class
2nd place Concert Group
Cello student Torin Gauld in
Junior Strings Grade 5
1st place in Solo
Callum Gauld in
Intermediate Strings Grade 7
1st place Bach Class
2nd place Concert Group
Tuuli Olo in
Senior Strings Grade 9
1st place - Bach Class
2nd place - Concert Group
Viola and Violin Students Tea and Ainsley Park for performing in their very first individual Kiwanis classes.
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Our Volunteers of the Year for 2017-2018
Every year we have the task of choosing our Parent and Community Volunteers of the Year. Our school could not function without the volunteers who help out with a myriad of tasks, big and small, some front and centre, others behind the scenes.
This year the winner of the Aubrey Parent Volunteer of the Year Award is
Louise Lefort!
Congratulations and Thank you for your years of service!
Louise is a tireless volunteer who is happy to help out whenever and wherever needed. She helps at our school events, volunteers at Viva Suzuki, helps at the snack table, performs Stage Hand duties and has happily offered to help in a pinch many a time. Louise has a strong spirit of volunteerism and we thank her for giving us so much of her time over the school year.
As parents we have a vested interest in ensuring our children's music school's success. It is all the more remarkable and a testament to a spirit of volunteerism when community members come forward to give of their time to help our school thrive.
This year's winner of the McKerrel Community Volunteer Award is
Ja
mes Hale.
James is a community member who joined our Board of Directors this year. He has expertise in marketing and has helped the Board with some new initiatives including the beginning concept phase of a revamping of our website and Jazz CD sales school fundraiser donated from his extensive personal collection. We thank James for sharing his expertise with us.
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Viva Suzuki 2018
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Artwork by Violin student Isabella Linson-Hudson in honour of our school's 30th anniversary Celebration theme. Thank you Isabella for sharing your talents with us!
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This year was a very special Viva Suzuki year as we celebrated our school's 30th anniversary and honoured our friend and colleague, Jonah Poplove.
The goals of Viva Suzuki are to bring our students together for a very special concert and to raise money for a trio of causes - our Faculty's continuing education, our school programming and our sister school in Haiti. Our sister school, Vision Nouvelle, is in Delmas, Haiti. Our friendship began through collaboration with Yvrose Philippe-Auguste, who has coordinated our relationship with the school for many years. For more information about the school itself, please visit this Unicef
website and read about the ongoing efforts to rebuild the school following the devastating earthquake of 2010.
We thank all our students who bought tickets, raised pledges, had bake sales, busked, and found creative ways to raise money for Viva this year and we thank everyone who supported our students in their efforts and who came to hear them play.
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Spotlight on This Years SuzukiMusic Scholarship Winner!
Sador Berektab
Congratulations Sador and we wish you all the best as you continue your music studies!
Here is an excerpt of her winning Essay.
The meaning of life is not celebrating your birth, it is celebrating your work. -S. Suzuki
Throughout my seven years with Suzukimusic, I have continued to flourish not only as a musician but also, as an individual. The integration of the Suzuki method as well as the community has had a major impact on my perspective of life. As I look back, I begin to realize the importance of celebrating my achievement, and development.
At a young age, I was introduced to the art of music. Gradually, I developed exemplary self-discipline and work-ethic. Without knowing it, my ability to manage my time effectively has lead me towards much success academically. The abilities that I have acquired through Suzuki have allowed me to take part in numerous extracurriculars at school such as, class representative, music council, and student council.
As I celebrate all my accomplishments and improvements, I can't help but remember the major influence Suzuki has had on my growth. Since my first year with the Suzuki program, I have taken part in group classes and Viva Suzuki. Suzuki has helped me build the confidence and leadership skills needed in order to further my learning.
Through my experiences with SuzukiMusic, I have had many positive experiences with music, some of which include socials, orchestra tours and play ins.
As said by Sinichi Suzuki, "If a musician wants to become a fine artist, he must first become a finer person." Suzuki has not only helped me improve as a musician on a technical level but I have learned what it takes to be a well disciplined, kind-hearted individual. I feel that celebrating my life with music is all about digging deeper in order to see what other greatness is yet to come! |
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