Community Invited to Learn More About Suzuki Method

Program director Jane Perry working with several students
during a recent group lesson. Photo credit: LRU

On Saturday, November 5, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., the Suzuki Kids in Koncert program at Lenoir-Rhyne University will host an open house in the Mauney Music Building on the L-R campus. The Kids in Koncert program enrolls students as young as four years old up to adults.

The Suzuki method was developed by Japanese musician Shinichi Suzuki as a way of teaching music to young children. The method is based on the concept that children learn music in the same way they would learn a language – by listening, modeling what they hear, and repetition. Through the Suzuki method, students learn to play before they learn to read. Parents are actively involved in the learning process by attending sessions with their child. Students will participate in a combination of private and group lessons, as well as opportunities to perform in recitals each semester.

The Suzuki Kids in Koncert program offers instruction in violin, viola, cello, flute, piano, and harp. Faculty includes April Dean, violin and viola; Jean Hatmaker, cello; Helen Rifas, harp; Cheryl Weldon, flute and piano; Irene Craig, piano; and Jane Perry, piano and Director of Kids in Koncert.

Perry says the open house “will provide an opportunity for interested people to come and learn about the Suzuki method of music instruction, meet the faculty of the program, visit the studios, hear students perform, have opportunity to ask questions, visit a petting zoo of the instruments, and enjoy refreshments.”

For more information about the open house or about the Suzuki Kids in Koncert program, please call Jane Perry at (828) 267-3476.