In my studio, there is a family of three siblings each of whom started piano exactly at the age of three. They were brought up in a stable family situation by three warm, nurturing adults – mother, father, and grandmother.

Nevertheless, over the many years, it must have been increasingly difficult for the mother. While children are young, they dutifully follow their parent’s wishes. However, when they reach age ten to twelve, children who are spirited and lively become less willing to follow their parents’ guidance.

As these three children became older they would voice their defiance, each in his/her own rebellious way, saying that their mother is ‘so annoying’ and ‘too fussy.’

The oldest, a daughter, is quite a reliable and energetic young lady, perhaps as a result of being the first-born. Since she was three, she heard the most insistent and persistent admonitions to practice from her mother, and she studied most diligently and effectively. However, in reaction [to this earlier diligent training], she became defiant and stubbornly refused to practice anymore upon entering middle school. Despite all this, she must still have loved music, because she continued to come to every lesson.

With the passage of time, before you know it, she’s in college and her younger siblings are in middle school and high school. It comes to pass that she, after all, loves music. In the last couple of years, she had started practicing all on her own accord and consequently became very good. In her last year of high school, during a graduation concert for our research department, she performed a Mozart concerto with the orchestra very well.

Recently, the younger two arrived at their usual lesson time. They both related something very interesting: previously it was their mom who would nag them to practice the piano, but nowadays it’s their sister who is even more strict, insisting that they practice and do it right. They said she’s a big problem for them.

Adults who are influential in children’s lives are the ones who are responsible to provide their education. After that, we patiently watch over them and wait as they grow and flourish.

As a result of a Piano Basics Foundation Board meeting held January 14, 2008, the Board reached the consensus that inasmuch as the Japanese teachers are now working with us in this country, study with them should be our priority concern. Following the model and challenge of Dr. Kataoka, all teachers should also study together in local groups on a regular basis. Local workshops are encouraged. The previous off-season Piano Basics Teacher Research Workshops held in Dallas, Sacramento, Rochester and Philadelphia were interim measures to help the membership until we were able to study with the Japanese teachers.

It is the consensus of the Board that future off-season Suzuki Piano Basics Teacher Research Workshops should include the Japanese teachers. They have expressed a willingness to come in the winter on years when there is no 10-Piano Concert in Matsumoto (2009, 2011, etc).

Any teacher or group of teachers desiring to host a Suzuki Piano Basics Teacher Research Workshop, either during the summer or during the off-year winters, should issue an invitation to the Japanese teachers no less than nine months in advance of the workshop dates. At their request, all invitations will go through Karen Hagberg. All decisions concerning their travel and teaching in the United States will be made by the Japanese teachers themselves.

The Piano Teachers in Utah have a wonderful core of Piano Basics teachers who are studying seriously. This Concert was the second time we attempted to produce a 10-Piano Concert in the fashion of the Matsumoto and Sacramento Concerts. Our first attempt in 2004 was nice but we knew it could be much better. We have studied hard since then on improving our teaching and our rehearsal format. We feel the concert this year was a definite improvement. Thirty-three teachers enrolled a total of 275 students. Seven of our teachers have gone out of state to study at various Piano Basics Workshops and 10-Piano Concerts. These teachers formed the core of our Piano Committee.

Starting with the Bow the concert then presented 27 pieces beginning with Twinkle Variations A and D and finishing with the Mozart Alla Turca (Turkish Rondo K. 331). We also programmed two-piano arrangements of Bach’s Sicilienne (originally a flute sonata) and the Chopin Waltz in e minor. One of our teachers composed a second piano arrangement for the Mozart Minuet I with Trio. These duets were beautiful additions to our reper-toire.

The SAU Celebration Concert Series began with a Suzuki organ Concert on Wednesday evening. The next event was our Ten Piano Concert on Friday evening. Saturday evening was the Grand Gala with all 2000 students performing. After playing the “Wishing” song by Dr. Suzuki and a special arrangement of the Twinkle Variations spotlighting different instruments, each instrument presented a short group of pieces. Five of the pieces from the Ten Piano Concert were chosen to represent the piano students. The Gala audience heard Mary Had a Little Lamb, Ecossaise, Wild Rider, Bach Sicilienne (Duo Piano arrangement) and Mozart’s Alla Turca.

A special Finale was commissioned from Kurt Bestor, a local composer. His “Jubilate! – Nurtured by Love” was performed with the composer conducting at the close of the program. “Jubilate!” began with a small boy playing the Twinkle Theme and grew to feature each of the instrument groups. We were proud of our ten pianists who executed an amazing section to represent scale studies as they coordinated beautifully the high speed scales in D Major along with some tricky but beautiful melodic variations. Older piano students were recruited to be flag carriers to add a stunning choreography to the dramatic presentation. All piano and organ students were included in the chorus and joined the voice students performing the beautiful lyrics.

Joyful harp and keys of love—
Blissful tune on flute above—
Hark now while choirs of angels sing
      with gossamer strings attending.
     Now plays viola, flute and cello.
Soaring violins so mellow.
     Joined now in blessed harmony and
     nurtured by sweet love.
Sing ‘gloria’. Sing ‘gloria’. Sing ‘gloria’.
     Sing ‘gloria’.
     To a world of tears and pain—
Bring we now our glad refrain—
     Joyful is but the sound we made when
music’s nurtured by sweet love.
     “Jubilate!”

The message of the chairman for the evening included these comments: “Listen with your hearts as our children combine to perform Kurt Bestor’s beautiful “Jubilate!” You will feel the excitement and remember when your child learned the first notes of “Twinkle.” You will hear the seemingly endless repetition of hours of practicing scales and technique. Then, you will witness the jubilation that comes when all of those hours of practice finally pay off. This is the moment when your student blossoms into an accomplished and natural musician.”

The piano teachers in Utah were happy to be part of this wonderful Celebration and present our Piano Basics work for all to hear and see.

The Suzuki Piano Basics Foundation General Membership Meeting will take place during the Rochester Teacher Research Workshop on Wednesday, August 6 at noon. Please submit agenda items to Karen Hagberg. Our nominating chairperson, Ann Taylor, is accepting nominations for officers. Please contact her at annttaylor@cox.net before June 30.

Teachers and students from Japan.
International Friendship Concerts (video audition deadline: June 1)
Tuition: $250
Teacher or student lesson: $40
Registration fee: $25 ($50 after June 10)
All teachers welcome.
Contact: Karen Hagberg kh@hagbergsuzuki.com for Rochester
Linda Nakagawa g.nakagawa@comcast.net for Sacramento

We would like to remind teachers that Ken Wilburn and the staff of East Carolina University are willing to begin archiving videos of Dr. Kataoka's master classes. Many of you have videos of lessons and may submit them to Ken for inclusion in the online archive.

There is a copy of the video release form on the Suzuki Piano Basics web site, although you do not need to get a release signed for the lesson to appear on the archive.

For a copy of the release form, see http://core.ecu.edu/hist/wilburnk/SuzukiPianoBasics/releaseform.htm

Send your videos, in any format, labeled as to place, date, piece, name and age of student (the student's name and age will not be published online, but will be archived for future research) to: Dr. Kenneth Wilburn, Department of History, Brewster Building, East 10th Street, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858.

Imagine being able to watch, listen to, and learn about the very best pianists, including those from the beginning of the 20th century to the current day, performing music by the greatest composers of all time.

It is now possible. Imagine how happy Dr. Suzuki would be to know that children can watch and listen to the best musicians with such relatively little effort. There is so much out there on the web, it’s hard to know where to begin. Also, the technology and options are changing even as I write this. So, this article is about how to begin your research.

Dr. Kataoka always made it clear that there was a huge difference between the good pianist and the best pianists. After you experience the best pianist it is much easier to tell when the quality is not as good. This is how we educate children to have high ability with the very best as their model.

You can view videos of many different pianists on the web, especially on YouTube. You can also find information about composers, artists, music history, etc. Next, you can research available recordings by listening for free, buying a new or used (collector items) CD, or downloading a MP4 file directly onto your iPod or computer. With this kind of access, all of us can contribute to the ongoing job of finding and providing the best resources and environment for the students.

Following is a list of reliable websites/access points for your research:

For Information: