Ms. Cathy Williams Hargrave

Cathy Hargrave became an SAA Teacher Trainer in 1986 and has been a member since 1979. She has been a guest teacher and teacher trainer at workshops, institutes, and national conferences in the US, Canada, Japan, and Russia. Her Suzuki training consists of study with Carol Bigler, Valery Lloyd Watts, Shizuko Suzuki. Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, and Dr. Haruko Kataoka. She was the 4th American pianist to earn a Teaching Certificate from Dr. Shinichi Suzuki and Dr. Haruko Kataoka at the Talent Education Research Institute in Matsumoto in 1983. She studied with them in Matsumoto for 4 years (1983, 1988 -1991). She was a recipient of the Shar Corporation’s first Young Outstanding Teacher Award, co-author of the Suzuki Piano Unit 2 Teacher Training Syllabus, a member of the Suzuki Heritage Committee, and the author of two books focusing on teaching Suzuki students to read music according to the Suzuki Philosophy. Over 50% of her students have earned BM, BMEd, MM, DMA degrees in piano, or minored in piano. She has maintained full-time studios in KY, IN, CA, and TX.