Suzuki Music School of Greater Toledo

In an increasingly fast-paced digital world, parents are constantly seeking activities that can help their children develop focus, emotional balance, and resilience. While standard academic tutoring and organized sports are excellent choices, a growing body of neuroscientific research suggests that learning to play a musical instrument offers unparalleled benefits for a child's developing brain. Whether it is the piano, violin, guitar, or drums, the act of practicing music engages practically every area of the central nervous system simultaneously, serving as a full-body workout for the mind.

When a child sits down to practice an instrument consistently, they are doing far more than just learning how to read musical notes and hit the correct keys. They are actively training their brain's executive functions. Studies have shown that rigorous musical practice strengthens the white matter pathways connecting the motor, auditory, and executive processing regions of the brain. As a direct result of this neural reinforcement, children who play instruments regularly display a significantly advanced capacity for paying attention and maintaining deep focus on complex tasks, outperforming their non-musical peers in academic environments.

Beyond intellectual growth, the emotional benefits of musical education are profoundly transformative. Learning an instrument requires an immense amount of patience; a child must learn to accept mistakes, slow down, and try again repeatedly. This structured process helps children build a high tolerance for frustration, drastically reducing daily anxiety and providing a healthy, constructive outlet for self-expression. By mastering complex pieces through discipline, young musicians develop an enhanced ability to regulate their emotions, manage internal stress, and approach life's challenges with a calm, grounded perspective.

One of the greatest compositions of all time, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was premiered on this date on 1824.

The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is a choral symphony, the final complete symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven, composed between 1822 and 1824. It was first performed in Vienna on 7 May 1824. The symphony is regarded by many critics and musicologists as a masterpiece of Western classical music and one of the supreme achievements in the history of music. One of the best-known works in common practice music, it stands as one of the most frequently performed symphonies in the world.

A great loss. I first met MTT on a trip to Japan for the opening of the Pacific Music Festival alongside Leonard Bernstein, and I’ve cherished our friendship ever since.

A visionary artist and defining conductor of his generation, his legacy is immense and deeply felt by all of us who knew and worked with him. He will be profoundly missed. Rest in peace, dear friend. 🤍🎶

American Violin Pedagogue Dorothy DeLay died on this day in 2002

She is remembered as one of the most respected violin pedagogues of the twentieth century: among her many students were players such as Itzhak Perlman, Sarah Chang, Midori, Gil Shaham, Nigel Kennedy, Shlomo Mintz, Cho-Liang Lin, Akiko Suwanai, Philippe Quint, Anne Akiko Meyers and Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg

Alongside DeLay’s tenure at The Juilliard School , she also held teaching positions atSarah Lawrence College, the@UCCollegeConservatoryofMusic , the@necmusic ,the Meadowmount School of Music , and the@aspenmusic , among others

Read more here: https://theviolinchannel.com/violin-pedagogue-dorothy-delay-died-on-this-day-2002/

Women conductors, hurray!

Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship We mentor, support, and promote women conductors as they advance in their professional careers.

Happy Read Across America Day!

"Teach people to read music. It’s not so difficult, and it’s perfectly possible to include the reading of music in the basic materials of education."

-Leonard Bernstein
Music Should Be Listened To, Not Heard (1959)

When I began my career, I rarely saw women on the podium. For a long time, it was easy to believe that conducting simply wasn’t a path open to us. Thankfully, that is changing but there is still much work to do.

This March, for Women’s History Month, I’m honored to launch the second year of , a campaign created to celebrate, support, and amplify women conductors around the world.

is about visibility, encouragement, and community. Every time we share a story, a performance, or an image of leadership on the podium, we help expand what the next generation believes is possible.

I invite you to join me and the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship beginning March 1:

💜 Share a photo or video with a purple baton
💜 Highlight a woman conductor who inspires you
💜 Celebrate moments of leadership, mentorship, and music-making

Post using , tag us, and help pass the baton forward.

Progress happens when we lift one another up. I’m deeply grateful to everyone who continues to support this movement and to the young musicians who remind us why this work matters.

Who will you celebrate this March?

Photo: Brandon Patoc

We often remember him as a Hollywood composer, but Erich Wolfgang Korngold was first and foremost an immigrant who overcame extraordinary circumstances to build a new life through music. 🌍➡️🇺🇸🎼

After fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe, Korngold came to the United States and made an indelible contribution to American culture, shaping the sound of film music 🎬🎶 and enriching the concert repertoire with works like his Violin Concerto. 🎻 His journey is a powerful reminder of how immigrants have helped define American music as we know it. 💛🇺🇸

I’m proud to carry forward his legacy with performances of his Violin Concerto this weekend with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, celebrating both his extraordinary music and the story behind it. 🎻✨

https://madisonsymphony.org/event/pinereturns

Great reasons to start playing an instrument and keep playing!😊🎻🎶

"People who make music together cannot be enemies, at least not while the music lasts." ~ Paul Hindemith, composer