18 2024 Teacher Trainer Appointments Maria Będzińska VIOLIN, POLAND M y adventure with the Suzuki Method started when I was 5 years old, as a student of my mother – Anna Podhajska. It was a beginning of a life-changing journey for both of us – for her, as a Suzuki teacher and for me as a Suzuki student. I always remember music being a part of my life – with both of my parents creating the environment in their own unique way. My father, being a music theory professor, shared his passion of music by playing recordings of the pieces of his favourite composers, explaining their structure and interpretation aspects. My mother, with her great intuition and knowledge of teaching was always a great inspiration to me. It was therefore very natural, that I declared early on that I would like to become a violin teacher too. I loved playing with others in group lessons and had the unique opportunity to start playing in a symphony orchestra when I was 13 years old. Performing and sharing music with others gave me incredible joy. It wasn’t until I started my music academy studies that I realised how unique my musical environment had been – coming from far away Iceland as a Suzuki child into traditional music teaching at the Music Academy in Poland was a little bit like arriving from a different planet! I wanted to help create an environment for children that would give them joy of music and with that idea in mind I started my training as a Suzuki teacher. I had the great privilege to learn from pioneers of the Suzuki Method in Europe – Tove Detreköy and Jeanne Janssens as well as Tove’s husband, Béla Detreköy who was for me the most beautiful example of love to people and music. My whole training was filled with observations of fantastic Suzuki teachers who shared their knowledge with great generosity. Tove used to say: “To teach is to touch a life forever”. I feel that the bond created with each student and parent through Suzuki teaching is truly unique. How lucky we are to be a part of the lives of those children and helping them to grow as human beings through music! My hope as a Teacher Trainer is to help spread the beautiful philosophy so that more teachers can join the Suzuki family and build a world where we share the best we have with others.
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