May 2014 MIC Suzuki Sentinel

“Man is a child of his environment.” - Shinichi Suzuki

Greetings, Suzuki families! Welcome to MIC's Suzuki e-newsletter. Each month, we'll be sending you the latest news and information from MIC's Suzuki program. For more information about any of the items in this newsletter, please contact your private teacher. You may also contact Blake Brasch, Director of the MIC Suzuki Program at bbrasch@musicinst.org or Sarah Montzka, Associate Director of the MIC Suzuki Program at smontzka@musicinst.org.

In this month's issue:

• Suzuki Festival Concerts

• Teacher Spotlight: Camille Witos

• 100 Day Practice Challenge Party

• Help us grow our Suzuki Garden

• MIC's Suzuki Online Auction raises more than $1000 for SAA Latin American Ensemble

• MIC Suzuki student/faculty news, activities & performances

• Twinkle and Suzuki Book graduates

• List of April Suzuki Sunday performers

• List of 100 Day Practice Challenge participants Suzuki Festival Concerts On Saturday and Sunday May 17 and 18 at Nichols Concert Hall at the Evanston East campus, MIC will present its annual Suzuki Festival Concerts. The Festival concerts are unique in that the students play together as a TEAM. Ensemble playing requires an additional level of detailed preparation that is only possible with consistent group class attendance. To be eligible to perform in the Festival concert students must meet these requirements:

1. Attend a minimum of 10 group classes per semester 2.Festival dress rehearsal (Only absences for religious observance will be excused, if arranged in advance).

All events to be held in Nichols Concert Hall, 1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston: Violin and Viola Festival Concert – Sunday, May 18, 4:00 pm (PLAN TO ARRIVE at 3:30 PM and REPORT TO TUNING ROOMS DOWNSTAIRS) Violin Rehearsal – Saturday, May 17, 11:30 am - 1:30 pm (PLAN TO ARRIVE by 11:15 AM and REPORT TO NICHOLS HALL) Viola Rehearsal – Friday, May 16, 4:30 - 5:00 pm (NICHOLS HALL) Cello Festival Concert – Sunday, May 18, 1:00 pm Rehearsal – Saturday, May 17, 9:00 - 11:00 am Guitar Festival Concert – Saturday, May 17, 2:00 pm Rehearsal – Rehearsal – Friday, May 17, 5:00-6:00 pm Flute and Bass Festival Concert - Sunday, May 18, 2:30 pm

Rehearsal – Saturday, May 17, 3:30 - 4:30 pm Teacher Spotlight: Camille Witos Camille Witos joined the Music Institute of Chicago as a Suzuki piano teacher in 2014. What led you to become a Suzuki instructor? I vividly remember watching footage of Dr. Suzuki’s very young students perform. I was awestruck with the idea that talent could be developed at a very early age, in such a natural way, and at such a high level of skill. It inspired me to pursue Suzuki training. What is your favorite Suzuki piece to play? One of my favorite pieces to teach and play is the Venetian Gondola

Song Op.30, No. 6 by Felix Mendelssohn. He wrote three of them, which were influenced by his first trip to Venice. The skill required to create the colors, moods, and sounds of that cultured, artistic city is quite demanding. He captured the magic of the city of Venice in those compositions. They remind me of my first trip to Venice! Who is the teacher who inspired you the most? There is a saying that “when the student is ready, the teacher comes.” This certainly has been true in my musical development. There have been various teachers who have inspired me in different ways, but if I had to choose one, it would be György Sebők. He had a magical way to get me to find the meaning of the music in my own spirit, rather than just tell me how to perform in a certain way. Sebők was different. He was a musical guru, of sorts. He could figure out what obstructions impeded a student’s progress, whether they were physical or emotional. He used creative metaphors to help students discover themselves, and to uncover the secrets behind the written score. He once quoted Bernstein as saying, “Pleasure is not in teaching, but in seeing someone else learn.” You are the founder of the Boulanger Chamber Ensemble. What led you to create this group? The Boulanger Ensemble is an outgrowth of the lecture/recital I developed from my research into the lives and music of Lili and Nadia Boulanger. We’ve had wonderful success in relating the story of these two great women musicians. Currently, we are developing other programs to educate audiences about not only the Boulanger sisters, but also about other talented women composers whose music is rarely heard and appreciated. In your MIC teacher profile, you share that you love dogs. What kinds of dogs do you have at

home? Unfortunately, our beloved dog passed away not that long ago. He looked like a Carolina Dog, known as the American Dingo. His legacy remains at Montrose Dog Beach in Chicago. Because of him and other canine friends and owners, a group of us worked very hard to create and establish the first official dog beach in Chicago. Now dogs can have a beautiful place to play and socialize in the city. I met wonderful people and dogs, and the efforts of our organization, MONDOG, continue to this day. 100 Day Practice Challenge Party Students who have completed the 100 Day Practice Challenge are invited to attend a special party on Sunday, June 1 at 12:30 PM, in Willow Park, 2600 Greenwood Rd., Glenview. Suzuki Garden Update

Deirdre Harrison, MIC's Director of Community Engagement, is working with volunteers from Goldman Sachs to plant the Suzuki Garden on May 20th. Any Suzuki family that would like to add more plants can meet with Suzuki Events Coordinator Reagan Brasch on June 7th from 1-3PM. Please contact her directly for further information at rbrasch@musicinst.org. MIC's Suzuki Online Auction raises more than $1000 for SAA Latin American Ensemble In December of 2013, the MIC Suzuki community joined together to participate in the MIC Suzuki Online Auction. Families and teachers donated a variety of items and experiences including "Tea with the Teacher", folk dancing lessons, and homemade crafts. The highly successful event raised money for scholarships to MIC's Mid-Winter Workshops and the Chicago Suzuki Institute. We also contributed some of the funds to the Suzuki Association of the America's (SAA) Latin American Ensemble Project, which will bring 50 Suzuki students from South and Central America to participate in a first-of-its-kind event at the SAA conference over Memorial Day weekend. The Latin American musicians will meet and perform with Suzuki students from across the United States, including children from the Music Institute of Chicago. The MIC community's generous contributions to the Online Auction allowed us to send $1057.66 to the Latin American Ensemble Project. We'd like to extend a special thank you to everyone who donated time, energy, and funds to this project.

Pictured below: Suzuki Events Coordinator Reagan Brasch mails funds raised by MIC's Suzuki Online Auction to the SAA.

MIC Suzuki student/teacher news

• Willa Brasch (violin student of Sarah Montzka) will perform at the MIC's 84th Annual Gala on Monday, May 12th.

• Sarah Cucco (flute student of Stephanie Pedretti) performed in the Northshore Concert Band and Northwestern University Festival of Music Festival on March 23 and received a Division I rating.

• Ellyn Harmon (viola student of Sarah Montzka) and Aryn Harmon (cello student of Blake Brasch) will travel to Siena, Italy this summer as participants in the Music Adventure intensive chamber music program.

• Ellie Kasche (violin student of Karin Addis) played O Come, Little Children at the Half Day School talent show

• Luke Montzka, bass student of Eric Snoza, will perform in a bass session in May at the Suzuki Association of the Americas Conference in Minneapolis.

• Sophie Chevalier, Nicole Daniels, Cassandra Huerta, and Yael Shaw (flute students of Meret Bitticks) participated in a recital at the Chevalier's home that raised over $3,000 towards Meret's work in Haiti. As a result of this fundraiser she will be able to travel to Haiti again this summer to work with students at two music camps. Meret will also be able to buy several instruments and bring them to Haitian schools.

• John Glew's Saturday Pre-Twinkle violin class has created a "cookbook" of ideas for making daily practice fun. Families who shared ideas include Bev Daly and daughter, Samantha; Courtney Mueller and son, Evan; Sarah Marchand and daughter, Gabi; Bari Lichtman and daughter, Rebecca; Paul Martinez and daughter, Tilly; Sherri Hawkins and daughter, Ella; Brian Taylor and daughter, Olivia; Mark Maslov and son, Adrian; Tami Teppo and daughter, Kate; Joan Hero and daughter, Katie Malliband; and Lavanya Srinivasan and daughter, Shreya. Here are a few of the great ideas shared by families:

o "We have our daughter perform a concert...she does this often for her dad, who doesn't hear her practice daily."

o "We've been fond of changing the words to Twinkle" variations, depending on our current hobbies. For example, 'Down Wigg-le, Up Wigg-le' turned into 'Down T-Rex, Up T-Rex.'"

o Reflecting on the project, John Glew said "I think all of the ideas are wonderful. Sometimes, all it takes is a moment of thinking creatively to re-ignite one's love of practicing. I congratulate these families on their ingenuity!"

List of April Suzuki Sunday performers

• Solo recital: o Cello: Jan Nedvetsky, Jonathan Wang, Mia Wimbiscus violin o Piano: Alexander Acimovic o Violin: John Antony, Savannah Hsu

• Piano/guitar jamboree: Lauren Barnes, Audrey Chan, Margaret Duda-Anderson, Suvali Dhar, Elizabeth Kelly, Boden Macika, Stefan Nowak, Monavar Rogers, Tate Ponko, Ray Wang, Vivian Wang, Nina Wedge, Jade West, Kobe West, Eric Zhou

• Cello jamboree: Alejandra Abraham, Julia Aliferis, Austin Antony, Michael Cerimile, Micah Chan, Hannah Cheung, Adelaide Colledge, Eva Darow, Jonah Gottlieb, Dylan Hansen, Ilan Hurtado, Sara Kaplan, Jan Nedvetsky, Avery Oppenheim, Ian Quan, Eloise Rossot, Peter Scheidt, Seamus Scott, Aglaia Smith, Simon Updegraff, Jonathan Wang , Ella Wimbiscus, Julia Wineberg or

• Violin/viola jamboree: Calista Benson-Williams, Angelica Boncimino, Jack Casey, James Casey, Julia Cerimile, Kaitlyn Cielo, Gillian Colledge, Samantha Daly-Short, Eleanor Feeney, Mikaela Joo, Ellie Kasche, Erica Lu, Zoe Martin, Mirai Matsuzawa, Mia Moline, Grace Naquin, Anthony Orsi, Kayla Smolen, Jenica Su, Margaret Sweeney, Rosemary Sweeney

Pictured below: Jack (left) and James Casey (right) sported custom t-shirts for their Suzuki Sunday performance of the Bach Double Violin Concerto.

Twinkle and Suzuki Book Graduates Congratulations to our Twinkle graduates!

• Violin: Angelica Boncimino, Vera Borders, Inna Chong, Nahla Dickerson, Orli Eisenberg, Tamiyah Geary, Mikaela Joo, Ellie Kasche, William Kim, Erica Lu, Katie Malliband, Zoe Martin, Mirai Matsuzawa, Alexandra Montgomery, Sophia Montgomery, Vittoria Pugina, Connor Quinto, Kattie Quiroz, Kylie Roberts, David Roche, Audrey Schraub, Carissa Schultz, Samantha Short, Isabelle Smith, Zoey Sugino, Lainey Switzer, Kai Weiss, Maya Williams, Eric Zhang

• Cello: Julia Aliferis, Sophia de Castro, Michael Cerimile, Micah Chan, Adelaide Colledge, Oskar Doepke, Ned Geraghty, Dylan Hansen, Sara Kaplan, Abraham Kim, Olivia Kim, Oliver Mah, Ryan Mossman, Sarah Smith, Ella Wimbiscus

• Piano: Stefan Nowak, Viviann Wang, Jade West, Amy Yoon Congratulations to our Suzuki Book graduates!

• Cello Book 2: Aglaia Smith

• Guitar Book 1: Daniel Matten

• Piano: o Level 1 Certificate: Theresa Lee o Book 1: Zachary Gerber, Leela Gandhi, Alexandra Zhu o Book 6: Holden Mui

• Violin: o Book 1: Nathanael Wang o Book 2: Alexandria Flojo

100 Day Practice Challenge Participants Congratulations to everyone who completed the 100 Day Practice Challenge, during which students practiced at least six days a week over a 100 day period. Here is a list of the students who have completed the challenge so far:

• Bass student: Luke Montzka

• Cello students: Alejandra Abraham, Raz Allon, Rowena Bakke, Paige Bartusiak, Max Battle, Christopher Bennett, Lucas Botero, Matias Botero, Adam Brann, Sydney Buttler, Michael

Ceremile, Hannah Cheung, Mae Cirks, Adelaide Colledge, Sophia de Castro, Julia Durham, Jimmy Gonzalez-Vicker, Dylan Hansen, Lydia Hansen, Catherine Hart, Mary Agnes Hart, Lily Jones, Sara Kaplan, Merrill Kaplowitz, Joseph Kean, Juliana Konopacki, Kevin Konopacki, Grace Kotek, , Nathan Lau, Oliver Mah, Andrew Mossman, Philip Nied, Minju "Cindy" Oh, Sofia Palmer, Anthony Pinto, Luke Ponko, Anita Rao, Zal Richardson, Arthur Riddle, Aglaia Smith, Karishma Thykattil, Hazel Treumann, Stefan Westerburg, Jasmine Wright,

• Piano students: Aleksandar Acimovic, Audrey Chan, David Dai, Suvali Dhar, Margaret Duda-Anderson, Diana Gottlieb, Matthew Hahn, Michael Hahn, Sophia Martin, Ethan Riddle, Amy Yoon, Eric Zhou

• Violin/viola students: Daphne Anderson, Sarah Bennett, Angelica Boncimino, Vera Borders, Kate Borders, Willa Brasch, Sydney Broxson, Jack Casey, James Casey, Emily Ceremile, Kaitlyn Cielo, Martin Combes, Samantha Daly-Short, Miranda De Olden, Lida Dodge, Eleanor Feeny, Avery Fleisch, Alexandria Flojo, Tali Gastwirth, Jed Geslani, Regi Geslani, Michael Gliane, Trevor Gliane, Katherine Groff, Annie Hayes, Daniel Hess, Mikaela Joo, Allison Kaplowitz, Ellie Kasche, Enna Kim, Ben Kim, Devrim Kivanc, Isabella Lau, Samantha Lee, Rebecca Lichtman, Erica Lu, Katie Malliband, Tilly Martinez, Francesca McMahon, Graham McKee, Shreya Mohan, Alexandra Montgomery, Sophia Montgomery, Evan Mueller, Raelyn Oremland, Anthony Orsi, Benjamin Park, Addy Paunan, Sydney Paunan, Katya Penzes, Ellie Ponko, Vittoria Pugina, Agathe Rossatt, Angelica She, Nicholas She, Katie Schilling, Carissa Schultz, Joshua Shin, Michelle Shin, Oliver Silver, Lindsay Stone, Zoey Sugino Vivek Thatte, Molly van Gorp, Tyler van Gorp, Nathanael Wang, Nina Wedge, Kai Weiss, Maya Williams, Andrew Yang, Eric Zhang