When music becomes your mother tongue

The Suzuki School of Music got a shot in the arm on Friday with the arrival in the city of Sarah Walters, the accomplished Suzuki school violinist from Melbourne, Australia.

Sarah will conduct a four-day workshop for city-based violinists at the invitation of Rama Chobhe, the Pune-based Suzuki School of Music teacher, who is arguably the only one who teaches this form of music in the country.

Speaking to DNA on Friday, Sarah said, “The Suzuki form of music has a philosophy that each one learns according to his own pace without pressure or limitations.”

The four-day workshop in the city, beginning September 30, will see a gathering of 80 students from the city. The workshop will see the two experts share their knowledge and experience with the students.

Sarah, who was eagerly looking forward to the workshop said, “The training is designed towards inspiring children to develop listening skills and the art of appreciating Indian and Western classical music. The Suzuki style of music is a specialised form on learning music, where parents have to dedicate time to children, thus nurturing them as they want and also spending time with them.”

Speaking to DNA, Chobhe said, “Children learnt music at the Suzuki school in much the same way as the mother tongue is learnt. What we do is develop and enhance this ability of a child through a nurturing environment.”

Chobhe has trained in the Suzuki method of teaching music at the Suzuki academy in Florida and has done a teachers’ training course at Suzuki Association in Japan. She teaches close to 80 students at the Suzuki music school held at Symbiosis School in Model Colony.