Christopher Bossuat and Ruben Rivera, and we were very fortunate that she agreed to include Zimbabwe in her Southern African training schedule. Karen was tireless in her efforts to promote Suzuki teaching in Zimbabwe and we are so appreciative of her efforts which included countless visits to Harare as well as fund-raising in USA and Canada to help finance her trips. We are also extremely grateful to the Suzuki Teaching Trust which helped to finance our initial training courses. SUZUKI™ Violin Teacher Training In Zimbabwe The first Level One training course in Zimbabwe, taught by Karen, took place in 2016 after a great deal of organisation by Amy Macy, Ivy DeckerJones and Mara Galante (who Helen had met in Interlaken). It also included a practicum course which Ivy, Amy and I did in order for our SAA Unit One courses to be converted to the ESA Level One. In September 2016, while Karen was in Zimbabwe for these courses, she was instrumental in the establishment of the Zimbabwe Suzuki Association (ZIMSA), with Ivy DeckerJones being the first Country Director. The first Level One Training Course was followed by a Level One and Level Two course which Karen ran concurrently in 2017. Then, during the pandemic, in 2021, ZIMSA teamed up with South African Suzuki Association (SASA) and together with the help of Christophe, Karen Kimmett and Lee Marais, they ran a Level One, Level Two and Level Three course. These courses were all held online. Since 2021 there has been a hiatus in teacher training in Zimbabwe, but at the ESA Board meeting in Denmark in 2024, a team of Belgian violin teachers undertook to help to restart SUZUKI™ Teacher Training in violin in South Africa. This is a very exciting prospect and one which ZIMSA hopes to benefit from; training is due to start in February 2026. SUZUKI™ Events Held By ZIMSA Annual SUZUKI™ Days ZIMSA’s main event is the Annual SUZUKI™ Concert, or SUZUKI™ Day. Most Suzuki violin teachers in Zimbabwe are attached to schools, and each year we try to put on a SUZUKI™ Day hosted by a different school. These are very popular both for the participants and their parents; the last one had nearly 100 students playing. These concerts feature violins, violas and cellos. They are very happy events with the morning taken up with group work and the afternoon culminating in a joyful concert with all performers. Mini SUZUKI™ Holiday Camps From time-to-time Suzuki teachers get together to provide holiday group teaching in which students of any Suzuki teacher in Zimbabwe are invited to participate. These events usually comprise of a few days of daily group 29 teaching and mini masterclasses; bringing everyone together for a shared concert at the end. The last one of these was held in Harare in May 2025 and was an extremely successful event. There were five trained Zimbabwean Suzuki teachers involved plus several teachers who are interested in doing some training. We also had a guest teacher, Sarah Claassen, from the USA (currently working in Zambia) and it proved to be a very special few days of collaboration and teaching with 50 children participating. Looking to the Future The future is bright for SUZUKI™ in Zimbabwe, and we look forward to the exciting training opportunities that are being organised by SASA under the mentorship of Koen Rens and the Belgian team of violin teachers. ZIMSA appreciates the opportunities that SASA have provided for the two associations to collaborate, and we hope that there will be more regional collaboration in future. Spotlight on Zimbabwe Catherine Stirling
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ4MzY=