Suzuki Teacher, Suzuki Mom
Finding Joy and Balance on Two Sides of the Triangle

Brittany Platt Gardner began her cello studies at the age of eight after receiving a cello as a birthday present.

An avid teacher and sought-after clinician and speaker, Ms. Gardner finds great joy in the study, sharing, and teaching of music to children and their families. Her book “This Will Help You Grow: Advice & Encouragement for Suzuki Parents” (available on Amazon.com) has been warmly received by readers from Singapore to Australia, to the United States.

Ms. Gardner recently completed an 11-year tenure at the Gifted Music School, where she served as the school’s Suzuki Program Coordinator. She currently serves on the board of Intermountain Suzuki String Institute and, in addition to her studio, codirects the Amichevoli Cello Choir with Kelly McConkie Stewart and maintains an active performing career, appearing with such groups as the Utah Symphony, Sinfonia Salt Lake, The Orchestra at Temple Square, and others.

Ms Gardner holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Performance from the joint degree program between Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Institute of Music.

She and her husband live in Salt Lake City with their two daughters.

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Stacy Garner is a Violin Teacher Trainer and a Suzuki Strings Specialist in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford ISD in North Texas. Formerly the Suzuki Program Director at the Gifted Music School in SLC, UT, and past president of the Suzuki Association of Utah, Stacy also served as the Faculty & Artistic Director of the Intermountain Suzuki String Institute. Ms. Garner has taught at institutes and workshops across the country and internationally, presented at state, national, and international conventions, and is a frequent contributor to the Journal of the Suzuki Association of the Americas. In 2018, Stacy was awarded the SAA’s Certificate of Achievement, and in 2023, Stacy was recognized as a Violin Teacher Trainer with the SAA. She is raising five musical children, all of whom have provided her most in-depth teacher training.

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Amy was raised with the Suzuki Method beginning at age 5. Amy earned her Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from the University Of Utah. Amy has completed SAA Violin Teacher Training through Violin Volume 6, Violin Basics with Gabe Bolkosky, and the SPA course with Pat D’ercole. Her pedagogy style has been influenced by her mother Katherine Kunz, Pat D’Ercole, Teri Einfeldt, Judy Bossuat, Linda Fiore, Ed Kreitman, Carrie Reuning-Hummel, Cathy Lee, and numerous others. For the last 20 years, Amy has enjoyed teaching the Suzuki philosophy!

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