In 2012 we were fortunate enough to have Amy Macy come out from the United States. She is a cellist and came out with her husband, who was working for the United States Agency for International Development; they came out on a four-year contract. She had two daughters who were both string players, one viola and the other violin and they had both learnt using the SUZUKI METHOD™ and were both extremely competent players. Amy herself had done some Suzuki training in America on both cello and violin and in the four years that she was in Harare, she built up a thriving cello and violin studio. She also, alongside Ivy, organised the first of what became annual Suzuki concerts. At about this time, Ivy wrote an article about her work as a Suzuki violin teacher in Harare, which was featured in one of the European Suzuki Association journals. Apparently, Helen Brunner, Country Director of the British Suzuki Association, read the article and then actually met a Zimbabwean family, the Galantes, at a Suzuki camp in Interlaken. It turned out that the two Galante children were taught by Ivy. Helen’s curiosity was piqued, and in 2014 she decided to go to Harare and see what was happening for herself. Inspired by Ivy and Amy and their successful studios, and then by Helen Brunner’s visit, I finally investigated doing a Suzuki course myself. I was a full-time music teacher at the time so had to fit it into my school holidays and the only possible course was the one run by Southwestern Ontario Suzuki Institute, which was held at the Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada. This was in August 2014 and was one of the most life-changing experiences I have ever had. I did the ‘Every Child Can’ course, followed by Unit One and my teacher trainer was Karen Kimmett. It turned out that she had already been travelling regularly to South Africa to run SUZUKI™ Teacher Training courses along with 28 Spotlight on Zimbabwe Catherine Stirling The first SUZUKI™ teaching to take place in Zimbabwe came about How It All Started about under the auspices of Ivy Decker-Jones at the Harare International School (HIS) nearly 20 years ago. Ivy was from the United States of America but had lived in Zimbabwe for over 30 years. She was on the staff at HIS, as a maths and physical education teacher and also played the violin. The Head of Music at the International School at that time wished to start up a SUZUKI™ Programme. She had been teaching in Tanzania where there was at that time a thriving SUZUKI™ Programme in Arusha. So, in 2006 Michele Higa George, a well-known Suzuki violin teacher in the United States of America, was brought out to Zimbabwe by the school, and Ivy being a violinist and already a member of staff at HIS, was the obvious person to be trained in the SUZUKI METHOD™. Michele presented ‘Every Child Can’, to which all interested music teachers and parents were invited. She then offered training in SUZUKI™ Book 1, with Ivy and her daughter completing the course. Ivy then went on to lead a very successful SUZUKI™ Programme at HIS and started a programme with a group of orphans connected with her church whom she taught on Saturday mornings.
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