23 T oshio was a self-taught flauƟst and started playing at the age of 19. In 1965 he visited Shinichi Suzuki in his hometown of Matsumoto, wanƟng to learn about the true essence of music and he subsequently studied under him for two years. Having been deeply moved by the recordings of Marcel Moyse (who was regarded as the god of the flute), Toshio travelled to the USA in 1965 to seek him out and aŌer six months he found him in BraƩleboro, Vermont. From their first meeƟng he felt a sense of mutual empathy with Marcel and spent many years studying with him. This relaƟonship of trust would later lead to Moyse's visits to Japan and in 1973, at the invitaƟon of the Talent EducaƟon Research InsƟtute, Marcel Moyse gave his first flute masterclasses in the country in cooperaƟon with the Japan Flute AssociaƟon. Large numbers of trainees applied for the course and the venues were completely sold out. A concert in celebraƟon of his Moyse’s 88th birthday was also held in Tokyo in 1977. AŌer hearing his recital at the Matsumoto Civic Hall, Shinichi Suzuki asked Toshio to put together a collecƟon of teaching pieces for the Suzuki Flute Method. Surprised by the sudden request, Toshio refused, saying it was "quite impossible" but he was reassured by Shinichi who said, "don't worry, I’ll teach you what is important in compiling a collecƟon of teaching pieces”. AŌer nearly three years of Ɵme and trial and error, the first three volumes of the Flute collecƟon were compiled and in 1971 the first manuscript ediƟon was published by Zen-On Music Company Ltd. This marked the official establishment of the Flute Department. Books 1 and 2 were recorded by Toshio and recordings by Marcel Moyse were used for Book 3. ConversaƟons held during Toshio’s early lessons with Marcel Moyse were faithfully reproduced and published in a book ‘ConversaƟons with Moyse’ in 1978 and the book was revised in 2005 with the addiƟon of ‘Maestro Marcel Moyse’s memories of his visits to Japan’. Sadly, Marcel Moyse passed away on November 1st, 1984 in BraƩleboro at the age of 95. Toshio was invited to the Suzuki Summer InsƟtute at the University of Wisconsin in 1978 where he introduced the Suzuki Flute Method for the first Ɵme. He has subsequently been invited to conduct teacher training workshops not only in the United States but also across Europe and Australia and for the ASA in Korea and Taiwan. On November 30th, 2014 a celebraƟon of Toshio’s 77th birthday was held at Hotel Buena Vista in Matsumoto. Around 150 Flute Department, violin, cello and piano teachers from throughout Japan, as well as flute teachers from the United States, Canada, Finland and Taiwan flocked together to celebrate. Due to the impact of the new strain of coronavirus, which spread worldwide in 2020 the 50th year anniversary celebraƟon was held in 2021. The programme included the creaƟon of a commemoraƟve logo; a call for ‘Sensei, (Teacher) Please Listen!’ flute videos; the ‘50 Groups of Joint Twinkle VariaƟons’; a commemoraƟve publicaƟon and the renewal of the official website chronology. Some highlights of the Suzuki Method Flute Department’s 50-year history include: The first graduates of the Flute department parƟcipated at the 18th Grand Concert held at the Nippon Budokan in March 1972 and the word flute was also added to the programme cover The Flute Department parƟcipated in the TERI Teachers' Research Conference for the first Ɵme in 1974 Takeaki Miyamae, who had joined Toshio’s class at the age of 9 years and 4 months (and who completed the enƟre 10 books of the Suzuki Flute School in about eighteen months) performed at the opening ceremony of the 2nd InternaƟonal Teachers’ Conference (now known as the World ConvenƟon) in July 1977 The 6th InternaƟonal Teacher’s Conference was held in Matsumoto for the first Ɵme in July 1983 with 900 parƟcipants from abroad and 600 from Japan in aƩendance In 1996 the Junior curved head joint flute for very young children was developed. The low C and trill keys, which are not used in the Suzuki Flute Books 1 and 2, were removed and the weight was reduced as much as possible. This contributed to the lowering of the starƟng age, thus fulfilling the dream of ‘I want to play the flute! I want to learn how!’. In subsequent Suzuki Method concerts, children playing together on three types of flutes (the Junior curved head joint flute, the curved head joint flute and the transverse flute) became an established feature of the Suzuki Method In August 1997 the first InternaƟonal Flute Workshop was held in Helsinki In memory of Shinichi Suzuki who had passed away on January 26th, 1998 at the age of 99, the 13th World ConvenƟon was held in Matsumoto from 27 March to 3 April 1999. The Flute Department invited teacher trainers from the USA, Canada, the UK and Australia and Canadian fluƟst Robert Aitken was invited as guest performer The 1st Flute Grand Concert was held in the Main Hall of the NaƟonal Olympics Memorial Youth Centre in November 2009. The programme included a flute orchestra performing the "English Folk Song Suite" by Vaughan Williams and other pieces which showcased the charms of the flute The 53rd Grand Concert scheduled for 29 March 2011 was cancelled due to the Great East Japan earthquake. A concert in aid of reconstrucƟon was held the following March at Suntory Hall In March 2013, the 16th World ConvenƟon was held in Matsumoto and 5,000 people from Japan and abroad gathered there for the fourth Ɵme in 14 years. Due to the focus on the World ConvenƟon, the annual Summer School for the four instrumental departments, normally organized by the associaƟon was not held and for the first Ɵme a separate summer school was held at the Talent EducaƟon InsƟtute instead The long-held dream of flutes playing an obbligato part in the finale of the concert’s all instrument group performance became a reality in June 2015. Pieces 1-12 from Violin Bk. 1, as well as previously arranged pieces in Bk. 1, (No. 17), and Bk. 2, (Nos. 3 and 7) were compiled into sheet music The Suzuki Method and the Kuniyoshi Sakai Laboratory at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Arts and Sciences began joint research in 2017 on the theme 'Music Experience-Related and Musical-ErrorDependent AcƟvaƟons in the Brain'. Takeaki Miyamae, himself a neuroscienƟst provided the sound sources used in the research On 4 April 2018 a performance was held at Ryōgoku Sumo Hall commemoraƟng the 120th Anniversary of Shinichi Suzuki's birth. The performance included the 3rd movement of the Cimarosa Concerto for Two Flutes. CelebraƟng 50 years of Suzuki Flute Watch hƩps://youtu.be/VrqOkm--QAU 50th Anniversary of Suzuki Flute
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