Festival and Association News
The January ‘98 Suzuki Festival in Lima, Peru, brought together students and teachers of violin, cello, guitar, piano and recorder. The pace was intense for the teachers, many of whom taught eight to nine hours each day. The final concert was excellent and there were many indications that the programs are growing in strength and quality. At the end of the Festival, the Suzuki Association of Peru met. There was firm resolve to increase efforts to raise funds and begin planning for next year’s Festival, which is scheduled for January 11-16, 1999. It is a time of change for the group as the presidency is passing from Roberta Centurion to Annika Petrozzi, but the group is facing change with a renewed commitment to the continuing growth of the Association.
The Festival in Santiago, Chile, was attended by violin, cello and piano students and teachers. The level of playing was very high. In addition to Chilean teachers, there was an excellent representation of Argentinian and Brazilian teachers in the training courses. The Suzuki Association of Chile is looking for ways to raise funds, involve parent volunteers and generally to improve their Association. The next Festival in Chile is to take place January 3-9,1999.
Suzuki programs in North America have an excellent opportunity to support these and other Latin American groups. If you have good ideas for fund-raising or for successfully building volunteer support among parents in your program that you would like to share, please let the SAA Office or Marilyn O’Boyle know. Ideas from your programs can be collected and then translated for distribution to the associations in Latin America. [Good ideas can also be shared with other groups in North America as well!]
Upcoming courses offered by Marilyn O’Boyle and Caroline Fraser:
- Violin & Piano 1A & 1B—May 30-June
6 in Tucuman, Argentina - Reading for Piano and Violin -August
16-19 in Cordoba, Argentina
Baja California Workshop
The November workshop in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico, was a great success. Nine participants attended the IB Piano course which took place in the Escuela de Musica de La Paz. Gregorio Peralta Mesa is the leader of this local group of enthusiastic teachers. They are actively seeking financial support and sponsorship in order to continue teacher training activities. If anyone is willing and able to help in any way, please contact Caroline Fraser.
Former Latin American Suzuki Students Studying in North America
- Sara Meneses, daughter of Juan Meneses, a teacher at the American School in Lima, is now studying violin at the University of Denver Lamont School of Music.
- Manuel Bravo, who was featured in the ASJ a few years ago while studying in Austin, Texas, has been playing in orchestras in Lima. While supporting his mother, father, and eight siblings, he has saved enough to pay his way to the U.S. to further his violin studies, and is looking for a university or conservatory who can offer him a good scholarship.
- Cellist Arturo Araya from Santiago is now studying at Oberlin. He played on a guest artist recital at the Chilean Festival, helped with translations, and generally impressed everyone with his excellent musicianship and his Suzuki spirit.