30 25th Anniversary of Norsk Suzukiforbund Ann-Berit Halvorsen N orsk Suzukiforbund held a Jubilee Concert on 8 September 2024 to celebrate the 25th Anniversary as a national Suzuki assocaition in Norway. Ann-Berit Halvorsen, Chair Norsk Suzukiforbund and Country Director Norway from 1999-2021 delivered a speech at the concert as follows - Dear Children, Families, Colleagues and Friends! Congratulations with Norwegian Suzuki Association 25 years! And what a joy to be in one of Norway’s most famous concert halls, The Grieghallen in Bergen! The Norwegian Suzuki Association, is all of us! Both those who are here today, and those who was not able to come this time. And what a development that has happened from the very beginning in 1999, to the orchestra we just heard and the numbers of members we are today! The Norwegian Suzuki Association was founded in 1999, and became a member of the European Suzuki Association (ESA) in 2002. We are an umbrella organization for families with children learning by the SUZUKI Method, and for trained Suzuki teachers. As members of ESA, we have contact and cooperation with teachers and families in other countries, are given the opportunities to go abroad for workshops and concerts, and also inviting teachers to Norwegian workshops. Some of the most important tasks for a the NSF to work with, are concerts like today, making contact with teachers and families in Norway and abroad, arranging nationwide workshops, and arranging SUZUKI training for teachers. And we need to do this as Dr. Suzuki wanted. The first National Suummer Workshop was arranged in 2002, just after becoming a member of ESA. This took place in Hamar, in the middle of Norway. After growing in number of participants, and after several locations, this workshop is now in Geilo, on the train line between Oslo and Bergen, in the middle of a beautiful mountain area in Norway. The first Teacher Training was arranged in Bergen in 2005. Because Norway is still a small Suzuki Country, we still have to ask Teacher Trainers to come to us, and Jan Matthiesen, Violin Teacher Trainer from Denmark has, for many years, done a wonderful job here. When Teacher Training started in Oslo in 2019, Martin Rüttiman, Violin Teacher Trainer from Switzerland has been our very beloved Teacher Trainer. SUZUKI Teacher training is a further education after pedagogical exams from Music Conservatories and Music Academy, giving a certificate and protected title as Suzuki teacher. Many more teachers have passed the SUZUKI training program and exams, than the 51 Suzuki Teachers who are listed as members of the NSF today. We are constantly working with public schools to open up for SUZUKI teaching, and trying to support those who are working as private teachers. So you can see that your membership fee is important! We need to support the work with teacher training, giving many more children and families the possibility to learn by the SUZUKI Method, and taking care of and developing what you have today. Dr Suzuki was born in Japan in 1888 and died in 1998, 99 years old. He wanted to live and pass the year 2000, then he would have lived, as he said, through 300 years! Growing up with 11 siblings, he worked and played with violins in his family factory, until he listened to violin music, and wanted to study. Going to Germany for studies, he met Albert Einstein, a very famous scientist who also played the violin. Here he learned how important it is to be in an environment where you can learn, and how easy children learned their language. This became the most important point in his philosophy and method, also called the Mother Tongue Method. Dr Suzuki used the rest of his life to prove that talent is in all people, only depending on the environment, love and inspiration. Talent Education Institute in Matsumoto, Japan, was founded in 1946, and is today the international center for the SUZUKI Method. The leader today is Koji Toyoda, Suzuki’s first student. In his book, Nutured by love, Suzuki tells from his childhood, his years of studying in Germany, how he discovered his Mother Tongue Mthod and his meeting with Koji Toyoda. Because very few public music schools offer group lessons or workshops, we are depending of the cooperation with the government for economic support when establishing private groups. This support is nevertheless not enough, and demands membership fees and asking parents to volunteer. We are grateful to all those who are making this possible! The SUZUKI program can be offered for many instruments, in Norway at the time for violin, cello, guitar, piano and brass. It is a pleasure to tell you that the Brass program started in Norway, after cooperation with the Norwegian Brass organization and then further developed in Sweden with Ann-Marie Sundberg. In Norway we now have the worlds first trumpet and trombone Suzuki teacher! As all programs have a common repertoire, it makes it possible to play together across language, politics and borders. For this Shinichi Suzuki was nominated for the Nobel prize in 1993. Thanks to all the parents giving your children time, education and love! Thanks to all my colleagues for your work and effort to making a childs education the best. Thanks to the team making this concert possible. I wish you all a good concert, and hope that you will feel the power in music and playing together. I hope you will meet old and new friends, and will return back home with lots of inspiration.
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