Suzuki Violin Studio of Kim Bishop

Hi folks, Suzuki teacher training course applications close this coming Friday. While the course is operated from the Victorian branch of Suzuki Music, this is a course that absolutely can be facilitated for Tasmanian teachers! Much of the course work can be undertaken via Zoom. Instruments included are violin/viola, cello, piano, flute, plus voice and Early Childhood Education (Suzuki ECE). Currently there are only 2 qualified Suzuki teachers in Tasmania and I’d love some more colleagues!! 🥰 Follow the link for the official details and feel free to message me if you have any questions. Incidentally I’ll be running the violin specific tutorials for this year’s intake, so it will be a good opportunity for some local mentoring.

Suzuki Music Victoria - Become a Suzuki Teacher Suzuki teachers are people who are passionate about music and believe that every child has the ability to play a musical instrument. They range from under-graduates to highly experienced teachers, many of whom are professional musicians.

What a joyful week we had at the International Suzuki Festival in Melbourne last week! We had a large contingent representing Tasmania this year. My students and I have had such a stimulating, heartening time. Thank you to Suzuki Music Victoria for hosting this awesome event! 🥰

So excited to be doing a gig with one of my students for the first time since relocating to Hobart. Yay for Isobel! Such a great experience for her and a joy for me. The concert will be wonderful. Two performances, this coming Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Get your tickets here: https://events.humanitix.com/st-matthew-passion

Some of our students were among the lucky TYOers to take part in this fabulous collaboration. Thank you Tasmanian Youth Orchestras and Tasmanian Symphony Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra! 🥰

(For interested teachers) Heard about Suzuki Method, but not sure what it is or how it works? If you are curious, join us at the 2026 International Suzuki Festival and learn more about Suzuki Method through the Teacher Observer Program.
The Festival will be a gathering of over 400 students, with their parents and teachers from Australia, New Zealand and further afield. An orientation session will commence the Teacher Observation program to introduce you to the Suzuki approach.
You will then have the opportunity to observe master teachers from Australia and overseas working with children from beginners to advanced level, in small and large groups, on different instruments. You can sit in on student classes, parent sessions, and concert events.

The teacher observer days will be held at Wesley College in Glen Waverley (Melbourne) on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 April.
Register here this for free program by April 2! https://www.trybooking.com/DKLBD.

The ISA is celebrating Dr. Suzuki's life accomplishments in honor of his passing on 26 January, 1998. Please enjoy this recording of the Suzuki Quartet from 1938, with Dr. Suzuki on 1st violin and his brothers as the other quartet members.

LEGACY RECORDINGS of the SUZUKI QUARTET from 1935-1938

The website Hector’s Rare Recordings has posted a very lovely set of recordings of the Suzuki Quartet, including the “Minuet” by Mozart included in the Suzuki Violin School Volume 7: https://youtu.be/zWSd2Z59q8w?si=Qm7dsfDoCHa9NVop

The recordings are from a CD titled "The Legacy of Suzuki
Quartet" (QHJ-1003), released in 2008 by a Japanese label called Regulus Classics. Interestingly, the label's website notes that this CD was "Released only in Japan", which is likely why it hasn't been widely known internationally until now. It is still commercially available on the website here: http://www.regulus-classics.com/labels/01.html

The following is a translation of the album description provided by Ryugo Hayano, Professor of Physics at the University of Tokyo, and President of the Talent Education Research Institute. He was one of the first ten children to tour the US with Suzuki in 1964.

THE SUZUKI QUARTET
Shin’ichi Suzuki (1898-1998) was born the second son of Masakichi Suzuki (1859-1944), Japan's first violin maker. Raised in a rich musical environment—surrounded by figures such as Nobu Koda (the first to perform string quartets in Japan) and her sister Ko Ando—Shin'ichi later moved to Berlin to study. There, he studied from 1921 to 1928 with Karl Klingler (1879–1971), who is best remembered for his string quartet, which, in different formations performed from 1905 until 1936, and famously made the world's first recording of Beethoven's string quartets.
Soon after Shin’ichi’s return from Berlin in 1928, he formed the Suzuki String Quartet, together with the four brothers: Kikuo (1904–77) Akira (1899–1961) and Fumio (1900–45). Shin’ichi’s father Masakichi’s violin- making business boomed during the First World War, but by the late 1920s it was faltering. While Shin’ichi’s father and elder brothers Umeo (1889-1981) and Rokusaburô (1895-1945?) worked to shore up the violin-
making business, the younger brothers had to earn a living independently. Kikuo, who played second violin, had studied economics at Keiô University, where he had been a member of the University’s music society. Akira, who played the viola, had trained in his father’s business before studying violin with Andô Kô (née Kôda;1878-1963), one of the first violinists in Japan who for many years taught at the Tokyo Academy of Music. In the war years Akira performed in Manchuria, for Mukden Radio broadcasts. Fumio studied cello with Heinrich Werkmeister in Tokyo, and with Julius Klengel (1859–1933) in Leipzig. Besides playing in the quartet and teaching, he also played at the lead desk in the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and composed.

While many of their recordings were originally released by Nippon Columbia, this CD marks the first time that the entire collection has been mastered from tapes created directly from the original metal master discs. This commemorative album was released just before the 10th anniversary of the passing of Shin’ichi Suzuki, the founder of Talent Education.
The track "Genji Monogatari" (The Tale of Genji), composed by Fumio Suzuki, is a unique work for string quartet, recitation, soprano, and tenor, featuring a historical recitation by the famous poet Akiko Yosano.
Album Title: The Legacy of Suzuki Quartet
Tracks: Haydn, Schubert & Drigo: Serenade / Mozart: Minuet / Tchaikovsky: Andante Cantabile / Ryoshu (Dreaming of Home and Mother) / Kokyo no Haika (The Old Folks at Home) / Old Black Joe / Deep River / Yoimachi- gusa / Ayageba Totoshi / Fumio Suzuki: Suite "Genji Monogatari"
Performers: Suzuki Quartet, Tamotsu Kinosh*ta (Tenor), Yoshiko Beltramelli (Soprano), Akiko Yosano (Recitation)
Product No: QHJ-1003 (Released Dec 5, 2008)
Recording: 1935–1938 (Columbia Recordings, restored from original metal masters)
Status: Released only in Japan

Members of this studio are excited to be attending the International Suzuki Festival in Melbourne in April! 🥰

International Suzuki Festival 2026 - Suzuki Music Victoria Melbourne, Australia Wesley College, Glen Waverley 14 – 18 April, 2026 Violin, Viola, Cello, Piano, Flute, Guitar and Baby & Toddler (ECE) Enrolments close Sunday 22 February 2026Concert auditions close Sunday 1 March 2026 Nurturing Hearts Through Music Go to TryBooking Site to Enrol Join Internat...

Happy holiday practising everyone! 😂🎻🚲

Bike Staccato 😇😂

THANK YOU to all who contributed to our Charity Busk! We were a little short of our target but the weather deteriorated for our second set, so we didn’t do too badly, given that. We had fun! Our fund page is still open if anyone would like to top it up! 😁🎻

https://www.savethechildrenfundraising.org.au/suzukiviolinstudioofkimbishop/

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