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NAfME is hosting members of the SAA for a session about the Suzuki Method! Learn more and Register at the link below!

About NAfME Sessions:
NAfME presents this live virtual event at no charge to all as a service to the music education profession. To register, you must enter your NAfME member information or create a nonmember account. After registering, check your email for instructions. A recording of this program will be available to all registrants for one week following the live event. Members can also view archived NAfME webinars in the NAfME Academy. The views expressed are those of the presenter; they do not necessarily reflect the views of NAfME.

Session Description:

Have you ever been curious about using the Suzuki Method? This session is one you do not want to miss! Join our panel of experts from the Suzuki Association of Americas and Hyde Park Suzuki Institute who discuss how applying Suzuki principles to your classroom orchestra curriculum can strengthen your pedagogy and benefit student learning to create orchestras that resonate with musicality. Additional topics will include a holistic approach to using the Suzuki Method and exploring repertoire options through a diverse and inclusive lens.

Speakers

Lucinda Ali-Landing studied violin at DePaul University and obtained her teacher training at the Chicago Suzuki Institute. After teaching at Sherwood Conservatory in Chicago, she was appointed Director and created a Parent Education Course. In 1998, she founded the Hyde Park Suzuki Institute, which grew to include several programs such as early childhood music and the Pathways Program, a precollege program focusing on training and supporting underrepresented classical string students who are preparing for top camps, colleges, and conservatories. She performs in the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, Gateways Music Festival, and the Chicago Sinfonietta.

Stacy Garner is a Suzuki Violin Teacher Trainer and a Suzuki Strings Specialist in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District in North Texas, where she teaches private and group Suzuki lessons and co-conducts the HEB Suzuki Strings Elementary Honor Orchestra. Formerly a faculty member and Artistic Director of the Intermountain Suzuki String Institute, the Suzuki Program Director at the Gifted Music School in Salt Lake City, Utah, and President of the Suzuki Association of Utah, she has a degree in Violin Performance from the University of Utah and has completed hundreds of hours of Suzuki training. In 2023, she became a Violin Teacher Trainer with the Suzuki Association of the Americas.

Angelica Cortez (she/her) is a Los Angeles-born arts leader who currently serves as Executive Director for the Suzuki Association of the Americas. She started her career with the Los Angeles Philharmonic on YOLA, Gustavo Dudamel’s signature program offering free music education and academic support, and eventually served as Interim President and CEO of El Sistema USA. Angelica was selected as a Sphinx LEAD (Leaders in Excellence, Arts, & Diversity) fellow, a two-year leadership program designed to evolve the industry landscape by empowering the next generation of executive leaders. She is an active speaker, educator, and consultant and teaches at the University of Southern California as part of the Arts Leadership program.

Erin Rushforth recently became the Learning Manager for the Suzuki Association of the Americas, having served as Director of the Japan-Seattle Suzuki Institute since 2019. At Brigham Young University, she earned a BA and MA in French before embarking on her Suzuki pedagogy studies. Erin has taught violin privately for two decades while continuing her Suzuki training, coaching, and teaching in public and private schools.