LLA Suzuki String Program Winter Workshop 2020

February 16-17, 2020

Registration is open for the 2020 Strings Winter Workshop!

The LLA String Program’s annual Winter Workshop is an intensive two-day event for string students enrolled in a Suzuki string program. Modeled after Suzuki summer institutes, it is intended to give each student a chance to focus on the study of their instrument with world-class guest faculty from all over the country. 

Both days, the schedule will include:

• Masterclasses: a short individual lesson with a master teacher, set up so that other students and parents can also learn from observing the lesson
• Group class: based on the Suzuki repertoire (for books 1-5) or advanced repertoire
• Orchestra for more advanced students
• Enrichment activity for younger students
• Class on alternative musical styles such as fiddling or improvisation

On Monday afternoon, we will finish with a grand finale concert at 4:30 PM in Chan Auditorium.

All classes will take place on the campus of Loma Linda Academy. Parents of students younger than age 13 are required to accompany their students during the day. During free periods, students may practice, read a book or catch up on homework, or just relax with their friends and family. Lunch is not provided; parents must bring along a sack lunch or accompany their children off campus (students may ONLY leave campus with their parents, unless previous arrangements are made with String Program faculty). Childcare is not provided, but parents are encouraged to bring their other children as well for observation.

Registration fee is $175 ($110 for pre-twinkle students ages 4-6). Deadline is November 15. For more information, please contact Stephanie Kime Popa, LLASP Director, at spopa@lla.org

Workshop Clinicians

San Francisco based violin teacher Cathryn S. Lee has taught families and teachers around the world since 1976. As a teacher trainer, Cathryn has taught and lectured at SAA National conferences, Leadership Summits, Suzuki Method World Conferences, the first International Suzuki Teacher Trainer Conference in 2009 and at the 16^th World Conference in Japan.  She has given master classes and pedagogy classes in Australia, Canada, England, Italy, Japan, New Zealand and throughout the United States.  Cathryn is a guest lecturer in String Pedagogy at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Cathryn is the author of Bow Exercises, Bow Strokes and the Bow Stroke Excerpts books. In 1977, Cathryn founded the Suzuki Music Studio of San Francisco where she continues to teach students and train teachers.  Cathryn has a B.A. in Performance and Composition, M. A. in Performance from San Francisco College for Women and a teaching certificate from the Talent Education Institute in Japan.  

Nancy Yamagata began her cello studies in Los Angeles with Eleonore Schoenfeld. She received a Bachelor Degree in Music Education from the University of Southern California where she was awarded Outstanding Graduate. In 1986 she was awarded the SHAR Distinguished Young Teacher Award by the Suzuki Association of the Americas. Ms. Yamagata has concertized extensively as a chamber musician with the Young International Trio, winning prizes in the 1974 and 1975 Coleman Chamber Music Competition. She is a founding member of the Marina Ensemble and is the cello coordinator of the Suzuki String Program at the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts. Ms. Yamagata was formerly the director of the Chamber Music Workshop at the Los Angeles Suzuki Institute and has served on the Board of the Suzuki Music Association of California. In addition, Ms. Yamagata is a registered teacher trainer in the Suzuki method and has taught at numerous institutes and workshops throughout the United States and Canada, including the National Cello Institute at Pomona College.

Edward Kreitman is the founder and Director of the Western Springs School of Talent Education and the Naperville Suzuki School. Mr. Kreitman received his undergraduate degree from Western Illinois University where he studied Suzuki Pedagogy with Doris Preucil and Almita Vamos. In 1986 , he studied at the Talent Education Summer School with Dr. Suzuki in Matsumoto, Japan. Mr. Kreitman has served the Suzuki Teacher’s Association in many capacities including a member of the Board of Directors, Violin Committee, Teacher Development team and as Coordinator for several National Suzuki Teacher Conferences. Recently he served on the SAA team which developed the Every Child Can! introductory course. Edward Kreitman enjoys an international reputation as a guest clinician at Suzuki institutes and workshops. Mr. Kreitman is a registered Teacher Trainer of the Suzuki Association of the Americas and is the author of Teaching from the Balance Point: A Guide for Suzuki Parents, Teachers and Students and Teaching with an Open Heart: A Guide for Developing Conscious Musicianship. In 2008, Mr. Kreitman was honored with the Suzuki Chair Award at the American Suzuki Institute in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

A native of North Carolina, Elizabeth Wright received her B.A. in Cello Performance from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1996, where she studied with Ronald Leonard. Currently, she plays with the New West Symphony, the Long Beach Symphony, the Long Beach Opera, and the Long Beach Ballet. She is also an active studio musician for film and television; her work includes The Simpsons, Family Guy, King of the Hill, American Dad, American Idol, The Voice, and X-Factor. In 2000, she earned her M.M. in Orchestral Conducting from UCLA and concluded six years of directing the Westwood Chamber Orchestra, which she founded in 1994. Soon after, she became the Associate Music Director of the Henry Mancini Institute. She has attended festivals at Tanglewood and Aspen, and studied conducting under Mehli Mehta, Gustav Meier, and Larry Rachleff. A passionate educator, Ms. Wright also served as the Director of the Los Angeles Suzuki Institute, and on the faculty of the Harmony Project and Mount Saint Mary’s College. In 2016, she launched three new summer programs:  ChamberFest, SuzukiFest, and CelloFest. Ms. Wright is a Suzuki cello teacher and maintains a private studio in Los Angeles.  She also serves on the faculty of the Colburn School.

Margaret Shimizu is a faculty member at the Colburn School’s Community School of Performing Arts where she teaches violin and viola, conducts Colburn’s String Ensemble and String Orchestra, and is active in the Colburn Suzuki Strings Program. She received her Bachelor of Music in Music Education from USC and her Master of Music in Violin Performance with an emphasis in Suzuki Violin Pedagogy from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Her mentors include Rosemarie Krovoza, Alice Schoenfeld, and John Kendall. Ms. Shimizu has been a frequent clinician at music camps, Suzuki institutes, and workshops throughout the United States.

Violinist and guitarist Molly White studied Suzuki violin from age six through high school with Idel Low.  She added classical guitar at UC Santa Cruz un Bill Coulter, and directed the Andean Ensemble during her Master’s degree in Ethnomusicology at U.T. Austin.  Molly continues to apply her music background to a wide array of creative music projects including her work with New York based chamber pop ensemble Kotorino, and the LA based Eastern European Women’s Ensemble, Nevenka.  Molly is also a singer songwriter, and collaborates in the duo Peach & Knife as well as the children’s music corollary Peach & Spoon!  Molly has shared the stage with an eclectic range of performers from Goran Bregovic to Jaymie Stone and Moira Smiley. Molly has studied Suzuki violin pedagogy with Liz Arbus, Charles Krigbaum and Ed Sprunger, and guitar pedagogy with Andrea Canon and David Madsen.  She has spent the last four years learning fiddle tunes from David Braggar and other teachers at Walker Creek Folk Music Camp.