9 European Suzuki Guitar Convention: Chitarrissima 2025 ITALY writing, listening and playing music with dozens of artists gathered in an orchestra is a stunning exercise in civilisation, every time successful ... I begin to suspect that for a nation to support orchestras means to give space to an idea of the world, to a utopia and to a social project that can even frighten so much, it is that beautiful.” Nicola Campogrande. Learning to Listen “One must not teach music to children in order to make them become great musicians, but so that they learn to listen and, as a result, to be listened to,” Claudio Abbado. The Listening Project Dr. Suzuki too, was not interested in training professional musicians – it matters little if many of them later choose that path – but thanks to music, he aimed to create better citizens. Today, in 2025, Suzuki schools courageously dare to place at the centre of their educational approach the very ability to listen. I would say that here we are right at the core of the SUZUKI METHOD™, which is inspired by the way we learn our mother tongue. Musical ability is not an innate talent but a skill that can be developed. Every child who is properly supported can develop musical ability, just as everyone learns to speak. To grow, learn, care and improve, we must know how to listen. The ability to listen is fundamental: we use various methods of communication, but they are often lacking in meaning. The heart of the matter radiates precisely from the ability to listen. Any solution requires this skill, and if we do not acquire it, we are destined – at the very least – to feel dissatisfied. We all have, if we truly desire it, a great capacity to confront and resolve this disconnection. The Listening Project is therefore our low-risk, high-impact solution, aimed at improving listening through our innovative approach. As we nurture more well-rounded listeners, we create a more meaningful environment in which we can truly listen to one another. We can create a world full of open hearts; a world in which solutions are truly heard and embraced. It is wonderful to see students – now young adults – who began attending the Suzuki school shortly after they were born, and who learned to sing the words of simple songs even before saying “mama” or learning to walk, now expressing themselves through performing the repertoire from the final books of the SUZUKI METHOD™. How much music they have listened to and how much they will continue to listen to! “It would be very beautiful if we focused on music to design the future. What do you think?” Nicola Campogrande’s article ended with this very question, which I now make my own. Elio Galvagno families, gathered in Saluzzo for the 32nd year of Chitarrissima, the European Suzuki Guitar Convention. From Caserta to Geneva, from the Swiss Canton of Zug to Monopoli, passing through Salerno and heading up to Pavia, they joined students from the Suzuki School of Saluzzo to rehearse and perform in an orchestra. Dr. Suzuki, following in the footsteps of the great masters of the past, strongly believed in the formative power of the orchestra, integrating it permanently into the weekly lesson programmes and making it one of the pillars of his educational approach. On this path, however, he remained practically alone: we remember, in fact, the role that orchestral and choral courses had in the Conservatoire until not long ago. In recent years, perhaps thanks to more than 400 orchestras now spread throughout Italy - there are now many Suzuki schools - and in addition to the two Italian Suzuki Orchestras (the opera-symphonic one and the plucked one), many orchestral experiences have emerged in the school environment. Today, there is no music camp that does not include an orchestra. In the early 2000s, composer Nicola Campogrande wrote an article titled, ‘The Civilisation of the Orchestra’, which remains a historical point of reference. It is not possible to reproduce it in full, but I believe the following quotation successfully conveys his thinking. The Civilisation Of The Orchestra “I do not know if a country as divided as ours has the desire to realise that Once again, young and older pupils, together with their teachers and
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