Catherine A. Walker

Catherine Walker received a Bachelor of Music degree (performance-cello) from McGill University in Montreal and continued her studies for a year in Geneva, Switzerland with cellist Guy Fallot. Upon her return to Canada in 1975, she started her training in Suzuki pedagogy with Yvonne Tait and has worked with most of the other North American teacher trainers over the years. She had a large private studio in Montreal, Quebec for close to thirty years and, in 2005, she moved to the Eastern Townships in southern Quebec where she has taken on the challenge of teaching the majority of her students in French. She is also an active clinician and has taught at numerous institutes and workshops throughout Canada, the United States and in England.

Catherine has been a SAA sanctioned teacher trainer since 1983 and is currently teaching Apprenticeship courses, as well as short-term training courses during the summer months.

Catherine served on the SAA cello committee from 1984-1988. In 1988, she went to Matsumoto, Japan and spent six months working with Dr. Suzuki. From 1996-1999, she served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Suzuki Association of the Americas, and during that time was also the Canadian representative to the International Suzuki Association.

In April 2008, Catherine presented the “Every Child Can” course in French in Sherbrooke, Quebec and has translated the teacher’s manual for this course. She is also collaborating with a cello teacher in the public school system to re-vamp the current curriculum and train the teachers.