Suzuki in the Schools Continues To Gain Support!

Constance E. Barrett has performed with an eclectic variety of musicians in all kinds of genres from her performances on national network TV with Camaraterie to her work with sitarist Nana, and her performances with the improvisational band, Music for the Planet, as well as performing with the Cavani String Quartet and with four-time Grammy winner percussionist Glen Velez and vocalist Lori Cotler. Called “a musician of rare sensitivity” by the Republique of Seine et Marne, France, she has performed at Jacob’s Pillow, Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Berkshire Jazz Festival, and is founder/music director of the Sundaes on Fridays recital and lecture series at St. Joseph of Arimathea Episcopal Church in Westchester County, NY.

Dr. Barrett has taught at chamber music clinics, Suzuki Institutes, and teacher in-service days around the country. Combining her love of Western Classical music with her strong interest in improvisation and new music, Dr. Barrett has been active in Music for People, facilitating workshops with Grammy-winning cellist David Darling. She has presented at the national conferences of the Suzuki Association, the American String Teachers Association, and for VH1-Save the Music Foundation and is a frequent contributor to the American String Teacher journal and American Suzuki Journal on the topics of improvisation, composition, and Body Mapping. She is a recipient of the Yale University School of Music Distinguished Music Educator award and is a Yamaha Certified Music Educator. Dr. Barrett has also been an online mentor for the Orchestra Forum of the Music Educators National Conference as well as a contributor to the GIA publication, Teaching Music Through Performance in Orchestra, Vol. III. Currently, Dr. Barrett is the 2010 Coordinator for Suzuki in the Schools for the Suzuki Association of the Americas National Conference.

Dr. Barrett has been a member of the faculty of Kenyon and Lafayette Colleges, Capital University, and Hackley School. She is currently a string specialist with the Greenwich, CT, Public Schools, where she teaches approximately 200 students per week, and Assistant Director of Summer Programs for the Chamber Music Connection in Worthington, Ohio.

Send a message to Constance Barrett

Patricia Purcell has been an active member of the SAA for more than 20 years. She is coordinator of the Fort Worth Youth Orchestra Suzuki Program and recently retired from the Suzuki in the Schools program in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford School District. She is past-president of the North Texas Suzuki Association and works with Fort Worth-area Suzuki teachers to provide students opportunities for education and performance. She has organized teacher development workshops and assisted in establishing teacher training at the DFW WOW Suzuki Institute. While a member of the TCU School of Music faculty, she directed the TCU Suzuki Institute.

Ms. Purcell holds degrees from Texas Christian University and studied violin with Fredell Lack at the University of Houston. She taught in the Suzuki program while studying at The Hartt School of Music.

Send a message to Patricia Purcell