This past week has been fantastic. More students have made contact and I have caught up with a number of amazing people.
Lessons are still going well. From a student who has been learning from another teacher to beginners it has been wonderful getting back into the Suzuki approach to learning.
I caught up with a teacher I knew from life in Timaru who moved here a few years ago. Over a coffee we caught up on the last few years. I got some more background information on music in Marlborough and some of the history.
To support the teaching in Marlborough I am adding to this blog a number of pages containing links and resources. Hopefully as the year progresses it will become a valuable resource.
Thanks to my big brother I now have the website http://www.twinklingstrings.com/ registered. The twinkles are the first thing every Suzuki student learns. It also encompasses the performance side of my life too.
Speaking of performance the first major public performance will be Sunday the 6th of March on the Picton waterfront as part of the Marlborough Summer Series. 20 minutes of fiddling and light music on stage will be a lot of fun :) I need to confirm the setlist but have a number fo resources.
I head back to Auckland in a couple of days to play for a friend's wedding. When I return it is the start of March and the start of new opportunities.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Performance week!
It has been a week of performance opportunities.
From the newspaper article last week I have had a flurry of phone calls about teaching which is fantastic. I can't wait to get out there to make it happen.
I played at Bohally Intermediate on Thursday in their school assembly. It was amazing to get back to the school environment to hear the teachers talk about making positive choices and decisions. My preparation went out the window as it usually does but with the speech and drama background I have I was about to make a better presentation than originally planned.
I had photocopied 25 copies of my contact details and afterwards students were given the opportunity to come and see me for more information. I ran out of copies! I am yet to hear from students from the intermediate so will see how that goes.
Thursday night was the Hermitage Trio concert. This string trio was part of the Adam Chamber Festival. Brilliant players - especially loved the viola player (biased? Just a little...)
Before the concert I had the opportunity to meet up with a piano teacher and committee member of Tempo - an organisation dedicated to giving students performance opportunities. Linda is amazingly dedicated with unfaltering enthusiasm. I am taking on the Facebook page! Can't wait to get it going and to make contact with other teachers and performers in the area.
Sunday was the gig at the library. Always an interesting performance environment. This time it was rather informal - just playing to those around and no chairs set out for people to watch. I was placed in the corner next the external doors which were opened so I could also play to those in the courtyard. The internal corner was a haven for travelers to take advntage of power points and free wifi. I had a few smiles and nods and it wasn't until the end that I got a thank you from one of them who had sat there for the entire time. I was hoping I wasn't completely annoying him!
I also had a phonecall from Marlborough4fun who does all sorts of events in the area. There is a festival early March which coincides with children's day. They had a performer pull out with a broken wrist, so wondering whether I could do something. We shall see whether this eventuates :)
This week is more teaching and focusing on preschools.
From the newspaper article last week I have had a flurry of phone calls about teaching which is fantastic. I can't wait to get out there to make it happen.
I played at Bohally Intermediate on Thursday in their school assembly. It was amazing to get back to the school environment to hear the teachers talk about making positive choices and decisions. My preparation went out the window as it usually does but with the speech and drama background I have I was about to make a better presentation than originally planned.
I had photocopied 25 copies of my contact details and afterwards students were given the opportunity to come and see me for more information. I ran out of copies! I am yet to hear from students from the intermediate so will see how that goes.
Thursday night was the Hermitage Trio concert. This string trio was part of the Adam Chamber Festival. Brilliant players - especially loved the viola player (biased? Just a little...)
Before the concert I had the opportunity to meet up with a piano teacher and committee member of Tempo - an organisation dedicated to giving students performance opportunities. Linda is amazingly dedicated with unfaltering enthusiasm. I am taking on the Facebook page! Can't wait to get it going and to make contact with other teachers and performers in the area.
Sunday was the gig at the library. Always an interesting performance environment. This time it was rather informal - just playing to those around and no chairs set out for people to watch. I was placed in the corner next the external doors which were opened so I could also play to those in the courtyard. The internal corner was a haven for travelers to take advntage of power points and free wifi. I had a few smiles and nods and it wasn't until the end that I got a thank you from one of them who had sat there for the entire time. I was hoping I wasn't completely annoying him!
I also had a phonecall from Marlborough4fun who does all sorts of events in the area. There is a festival early March which coincides with children's day. They had a performer pull out with a broken wrist, so wondering whether I could do something. We shall see whether this eventuates :)
This week is more teaching and focusing on preschools.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Marlborough Express Article
So I have been in Blenheim for a week now and a lot of things have happened!
Listings in school newsletters, invitation to play at school assemblies, an article in the Marlborough Express, students on board, meeting music teachers and students - wow!
Off to the library today to talk through something for their Under 5s programme :)
Article in the paper:
Children have returned to the classroom for another year and a new teacher in Marlborough is ready to enhance their studies with the Suzuki methods of music.
``Many studies in America and England have shown that students who learn an instrument achieve at a higher level,''says Hannah Cone. She moved to Blenheim last Friday after four years' work and performance in Auckland.
She believes she will be the only person in Marlborough teaching the Suzuki method, developed in Japan last century by Dr Shinichi Suzuki. His father manufactured violins and young Shinichi taught himself to play the instrument. When he was asked to help a young boy, he started thinking about the way children learn.
Lessons were then modelled on the steps children naturally take when learning to speak their first language. Key factors were: Listening, motivation, repetition, memory, parental involvement - and love.
Hannah agrees parental involvement is vital for the best results. She identifies a ``parent-student-teacher triangle'' in which a parent's support and encouragement is as important to a child's mastery of music as their teacher's understanding and skills.
``And Suzuki's idea was `success breeds success'.''
Hannah grew up at Pleasant Point near Timaru and music lessons started for her when she was 4. She had wanted to learn the violin but there wasn't a violin teacher so her first instrument was keyboards. Three years later, a violin teacher arrived who taught the Suzuki methods.
``It's been a natural progression for me to continue teaching it that way.''
At Otago University Hannah studied performance violin and viola and primary teaching. She now has a double degree in music and education and holds a primary school teaching diploma.
After working in Invercargill and South Canterbury, Hannah went to Auckland where she joined the education department of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. Her shift to Marlborough followed a trip to Blenheim to see a friend last September.
``It's gorgeous [here]. There's so much energy and creativity ... I want to tap into that.''
Contacts have been made with Marlborough primary schools and she is aware of groups like the Marlborough Music Society, the Blenheim Musical Theatre and the Marlborough District Brass Band.
She plans to start a teaching and performance programme for string instruments and is already pencilling in an April concert date. Hannah is also ready for some solo performance spots: ``Maybe under a tree while people eat lunch or dinner at a winery restaurant!''
Classical music is her specialty but she also plays folk music - and listens to everything from rock to metal to alternative grooves.
What makes music important?
Hannah smiles. ``It's everything. It's soul; it's the breath of life ... I don't know what I would do without it.''
For more information about the Suzuki method of music, Hannah Cone can be contacted on 021 024 03190 or hannah@planetnz.com
Who knows what this week will bring!
Listings in school newsletters, invitation to play at school assemblies, an article in the Marlborough Express, students on board, meeting music teachers and students - wow!
Off to the library today to talk through something for their Under 5s programme :)
Article in the paper:
Children have returned to the classroom for another year and a new teacher in Marlborough is ready to enhance their studies with the Suzuki methods of music.
``Many studies in America and England have shown that students who learn an instrument achieve at a higher level,''says Hannah Cone. She moved to Blenheim last Friday after four years' work and performance in Auckland.
She believes she will be the only person in Marlborough teaching the Suzuki method, developed in Japan last century by Dr Shinichi Suzuki. His father manufactured violins and young Shinichi taught himself to play the instrument. When he was asked to help a young boy, he started thinking about the way children learn.
Lessons were then modelled on the steps children naturally take when learning to speak their first language. Key factors were: Listening, motivation, repetition, memory, parental involvement - and love.
Hannah agrees parental involvement is vital for the best results. She identifies a ``parent-student-teacher triangle'' in which a parent's support and encouragement is as important to a child's mastery of music as their teacher's understanding and skills.
``And Suzuki's idea was `success breeds success'.''
Hannah grew up at Pleasant Point near Timaru and music lessons started for her when she was 4. She had wanted to learn the violin but there wasn't a violin teacher so her first instrument was keyboards. Three years later, a violin teacher arrived who taught the Suzuki methods.
``It's been a natural progression for me to continue teaching it that way.''
At Otago University Hannah studied performance violin and viola and primary teaching. She now has a double degree in music and education and holds a primary school teaching diploma.
After working in Invercargill and South Canterbury, Hannah went to Auckland where she joined the education department of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. Her shift to Marlborough followed a trip to Blenheim to see a friend last September.
``It's gorgeous [here]. There's so much energy and creativity ... I want to tap into that.''
Contacts have been made with Marlborough primary schools and she is aware of groups like the Marlborough Music Society, the Blenheim Musical Theatre and the Marlborough District Brass Band.
She plans to start a teaching and performance programme for string instruments and is already pencilling in an April concert date. Hannah is also ready for some solo performance spots: ``Maybe under a tree while people eat lunch or dinner at a winery restaurant!''
Classical music is her specialty but she also plays folk music - and listens to everything from rock to metal to alternative grooves.
What makes music important?
Hannah smiles. ``It's everything. It's soul; it's the breath of life ... I don't know what I would do without it.''
For more information about the Suzuki method of music, Hannah Cone can be contacted on 021 024 03190 or hannah@planetnz.com
Who knows what this week will bring!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Welcome!
Welcome to the blog of the Marlborough Suzuki Strings!
Here I will share with you some of the exciting happenings with the studio - upcoming events, tips for motivation and practice and general news.
A bit about me...
I have just arrived from spending the last 4 years in Auckland working with the amazing Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in the Education Department. Some of my projects included running Summer School, working with our partnership schools (APOPS) and running the Young Achievers' programme.
Before that I had a studio in South Canterbury as well as working at Opihi College. Some of my students even came up to the APO Summer School! So proud :)
I have been a suzuki teacher for 15 years now - starting in Dunedin and Invercargill as a student at University. As well as studying violin and viola at university I also studied for a Bachelor of Education and have a Primary teaching diploma.
In 2007 when I moved to Auckland I went back to study for a Diploma in Music Event Management at MAINZ. At the end of that year I got the job at the APO to run summer school.
I'm looking forward to seeing what will happen in this beautiful region!
Here I will share with you some of the exciting happenings with the studio - upcoming events, tips for motivation and practice and general news.
A bit about me...
I have just arrived from spending the last 4 years in Auckland working with the amazing Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in the Education Department. Some of my projects included running Summer School, working with our partnership schools (APOPS) and running the Young Achievers' programme.
Before that I had a studio in South Canterbury as well as working at Opihi College. Some of my students even came up to the APO Summer School! So proud :)
I have been a suzuki teacher for 15 years now - starting in Dunedin and Invercargill as a student at University. As well as studying violin and viola at university I also studied for a Bachelor of Education and have a Primary teaching diploma.
In 2007 when I moved to Auckland I went back to study for a Diploma in Music Event Management at MAINZ. At the end of that year I got the job at the APO to run summer school.
I'm looking forward to seeing what will happen in this beautiful region!
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