Helen Higa

Helen Higa comes from a family with 3 generations of Japanese and Western music teachers, and was born and raised in Honolulu. Her Suzuki Teacher training includes study with Dr. Shinichi Suzuki for two and a half years at the Talent Education Institute in Matsumoto, Japan, where she received her Teacher Certification from him in 1973. She continued her Suzuki teacher training at the University of Tennessee with William Starr, Louise Behrend at the School for Strings, and the late Hiroko Primrose in Hawaii. In NYC, she also worked with Gerald Beal on violin performance skills. Helen is currently the Director of the Suzuki Violin Program at Punahou Music School and a part time member of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra.

What We Studied: Lessons with and from Dr. Suzuki

by Hiroko Driver-Lippman, Helen Higa, Donna Lim, Edmund Sprunger

Lessons, Suzuki
ASJ 46.4, page 42

Matsumoto Memoir—Helen Higa

June 23, 2017 by Helen Higa, Margaret Watts Romney

Today, we are looking at just one environment created by one teacher, and finding themes that can be applied to good teaching everywhere such as generosity, powerful observation, and warmth. Recently I was introduced to a series of recordings—interviews made a number of years ago with people who studied with Shinichi Suzuki in Japan in decades past. I feel like I’ve had a little trip to Asia in the 1970’s. Read more ▶