As most of the music world knows by now, Mark O’Connor has in the past year presented information on his BLOG that he says exposes Shin’ichi Suzuki as a fraud. Mr. O’Connor has a deservedly high stature as a performer and composer. Therefore, many media outlets have either taken him at his word or printed his accusations as the quotes of a newsworthy person.
This, of course, has struck a deep nerve for tens of thousands of teachers, students and alumni of Suzuki Education around the world. For those of us who had the experience of knowing and working with Suzuki, the hostile nature of the charges is especially troubling.
Charles Avsharian, CEO of the SHAR Music Company, recently posted a statement on his BLOG that noted that Mr. O’Connor’s attacks, as well as some of the responses, have created a hurtful, damaging, and unproductive atmosphere. In response, Mr. O’Connor offered somewhat of an olive branch, expressing his regret at having caused the firestorm. Still, he could not bring himself to back away from his assertions regarding Shin’ichi Suzuki’s personal story. As a result, I feel compelled to present information that I consider to be definitive, due to the testimony of primary sources as well as my own personal interactions.
Before I describe the basic tenets of Suzuki Education and respond to the attacks on Suzuki the man, I do want to acknowledge the accomplishments of Mr. O’Connor. In his career as a performer and composer he has built bridges among musical genres and diverse cultures. More importantly, he has elevated the status of American roots music and inspired many to play, listen or otherwise engage with the musical art. The concept and literature of the O’Connor method could certainly do similar things for music teaching.
The success of Suzuki Education, especially with violin playing, largely speaks for itself. The most radical difference between Suzuki teaching and most other approaches to teaching the violin is the fact that Suzuki teachers believe that, without exception, every child can learn to play the violin and master the instrument to whatever level they pursue. Excellent musicianship is not reserved for the prodigies or other children who have been identified as possessing big talent.
Many professional violinists have emerged as a result of Suzuki Education, including a number of concertmasters of major orchestras. Though we are proud of these musicians, a career in music is only a happy by-product of Suzuki Education. The Suzuki philosophy is clearly more focused on developing the character of the student, cultivating an appreciation of beauty and prompting students to go forth in the world to live as noble citizens.
Pedagogically, the emphasis with the youngest students is to immerse them in the music they will soon play. The technical challenges of the instrument are broken down into hundreds of small steps which are mastered at varying speeds by each student. Parents or caregivers play a large role in providing support, creating a nurturing home environment and celebrating a student’s every achievement.
While there is no system of certification for American Suzuki teachers, there are many opportunities to learn and master both the pedagogy and the philosophy. Teachers are encouraged to register their training experiences on the website of the Suzuki Association of the Americas, a not-for-profit organization that serves as an information clearinghouse for a large and diverse learning community.
The experience of each student depends on the expertise and dedication of their teacher. This is true for every approach to teaching music. It is a fact that some teachers are better than others. The Suzuki Association of the Americas provides a large number of organized opportunities for Suzuki teachers to hone their skills, share ideas and become the best teachers they can be. Suzuki Education in America is an ever-evolving community that absorbs the best qualities of other styles of teaching and continuously introduces new ideas and supplementary material, including, for the last four decades, American fiddle tunes, to the teaching repertoire.
That said, we can finally explore the facts about Shin’ichi Suzuki’s life story. It is true that Suzuki never attended the Berlin Hochshule. He also never claimed to have been enrolled in the Berlin Hochchule. As Suzuki has written, he was not a very good violinist at this time. Nonetheless, he convinced Klingler to take him on as a student. This fact is confirmed by Alice Schoenfeld, Emeritus Professor of Violin at the University of Southern California, and a student in the Klinger studio in the 1920’s. Ms. Schoenfeld said, “Yes, Suzuki was definitely in Klingler’s studio. He was fascinated with Suzuki’s cultural background and eager to see if he could grasp the language of European music. Mr. Klinger and Mr. Suzuki became great friends. Klinger was a wonderful teacher who taught great people, and great people at heart.”
As for Suzuki’s relationship with Albert Einstein, there is no mystery as to how they connected. When Dr. Leonor Michaelis, a friend of the Suzuki family who had agreed to look after Shin’ichi in a completely unknown cultural environment, accepted a teaching appointment in the United States, Michaelis asked his friend Einstein to continue looking after the young Suzuki. Einstein later presented Suzuki with the gift of a self-portrait with the following inscription: “Herr Shinichi Suzuki in freundlichsten Erinnerung” translated as, “Mr. Shinichi Suzuki in friendliest recollection” – Albert Einstein November 1926.
Regarding Suzuki’s honorary degrees, many teachers and students use the honorific title of Doctor in referring to Suzuki. However, Suzuki never referred to himself as a doctor, though many other noteworthy people with honorary degrees have, including poet Maya Angelou, Bluegrass artist Ralph Stanley and founding father Benjamin Franklin.
Shin’ichi Suzuki was most proud of the many children in his studio who learned to play music and engage the world with beautiful hearts. There were also students who became professional musicians. In fact, Suzuki’s very first students found success as professional violinists, Toshiya Eto, was head of the Toho Gakuen School of Music and Koji Toyoda, served as concertmaster of the Berlin Radio Orchestra. In America, many Suzuki students have ascended to musical prominence, including William Preucil, concertmaster of the Cleveland Orchestra and Erin Keefe, Artist member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra.
While never a virtuoso, Suzuki himself became a respected violinist in Japan. As a soloist he appeared with the New Symphony Orchestra – a precursor of the NHK Symphony and toured extensively with the Suzuki Quartet, all before World War II.
In the end, it was not his violin playing that changed the world of music; it was his pedagogy and his humanity. I hope the music world is ready to move on from the ugly rancor of the past year. The truth is that if there were another million wonderful music teachers, it wouldn’t be enough. We do what we do for the happiness of all children.
markonmusic109 