The 2009 Dakotas Suzuki Institute will be held August 10-13, 2009, on the campus of Bismarck State College in Bismarck, North Dakota. All current and new Suzuki students who play violin, viola and cello, as well as Pre-Twinkle, are invited to attend. The Dakota Suzuki Institute is also offering Early Childhood Education in Music classes for children from infant to 5 years old. Students will receive intensive instruction during the institute, as well as attend and perform in concerts.

The Dakota Suzuki Institute is a partnership between Bismarck State College and The Suzuki School of Music.

There is lots more information in the brochure [pdf].

Registration

You can register on-line at BSC’s Institute website

You can register over the phone by calling 701-224-5600 Toll Free 1-877-846-9387

If you wish to register by mail, print the forms from the College website and mail them to:

Bismarck State College, Dakotas Suzuki Institute
PO Box 5587, Bismarck, ND 58506-5587

Finally, you can register in person at Bismarck State College, Continuing Ed, Training and Innovation office
located in the new NECE Building, 1200 Schafer St., Bismarck.
Office Hours: Monday -Thursday: 8am-5pm and Friday: 8am-4pm

Faculty

Colleen Lively

Colleen has been on the teaching staff at University of Southern Mississippi Orchestra Camp, All-State Orchestra, and numerous Tupelo Youth Symphony performances. Colleen moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1981 to attend Temple University. While in college, she was introduced to the Suzuki method by one of her professors. She attended her Book 1 training in Virginia and was later hired by Cadek Conservatory in Chattanooga to teach Suzuki Violin and continued her own Suzuki training.

Colleen later taught orchestra in a public school in Jackson, Mississippi and taught Suzuki Violin at the Greater Jackson Suzuki Strings in the evenings. She and her husband then moved to Princeton, Illinois where she had 4 children who are now 8, 10, 11, and 13 years old and play piano, violin, flute, and classical guitar. While in Princeton, Colleen taught Suzuki Violin lessons and played with the Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra.

In 2005, Colleen and her family moved to Minot, North Dakota, where they currently reside. Colleen now teaches Suzuki Violin lessons, piano lessons, and works full time as an aide in a local school. She plays with the Minot Symphony Orchestra.

Joy Moeller

Joy Moeller holds a B.A. in Elementary Education from Ottawa University, where, as a violin student of Alice Joy Lewis, she had her first exposure to Suzuki Talent Education. In addition to long-term Suzuki teacher training with Mrs. Lewis, she has taken short-term training with such fine teachers as William Starr, Yuko Mori, and Carol Dallinger. She has also done graduate studies in Child Development and Literacy Education at the University of Minnesota. For many years she has been on the faculty at MacPhail Music Program, and is on MacPhail’s roster of “Community Partnerships” teachers, specializing in collaborations that bring in music educators to support Literacy and ELL initiatives in the schools. “I love my work”, she says. “I wear many hats, I get to rub shoulders with such talented and interesting people, and every day is different—and every day I keep learning too!”

Scott Neumann

Scott Neumann is a native North Dakotan. He received music degrees from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota and the University of Iowa. He has taught strings in MN, IA, KS, and NM, and is currently a string teacher and orchestra director in the Bismarck ND Public Schools, directing the orchestras at Wachter Middle School, and four elementary schools. He is also director of the Strolling Strings of Bismarck. He is principal cello with the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony, has a private studio of cello and bass students, and is an active chamber musician. Scott is a faculty member at the Colorado Suzuki Institute in Beaver Creek. Scott and his wife Susan (violin and viola) have two children, Ross, 16 (cello and choir) and Erin, who is attending Minot State University and majoring in Music Education with emphasis on Violin.

Carl Cook

Carl began formal violin studies at the age of four in Pittsburg, Kansas. Mr. Cook received his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory of Music and his Master of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied Suzuki Pedagogy with Michele George and Tom Wermuth. Mr. Cook serves on the faculty of Ottawa Suzuki Institute and is Artistic Director of Three Trails Fiddle Camp. He has performed in concert with Harry Connick Jr., Mannheim Steamroller, The Moody Blues, and Michael Bolton in addition to numerous orchestras and chamber ensembles.

Brigid Fitzsimmons

Classically trained, Brigid Fitzsimmons took up an interest in fiddling several years ago, while living in Ireland and has been jamming, recording and performing ever since. She received the major part of her musical education from Rosemary Person in Bismarck, ND until a family move to Cork, Ireland where she attended the Cork School of Music from 1996 to 2002 and studied under Ruxandra Colan-Petcu. It was here that her interest in fiddling was sparked.

She attended sessions and played at festivals across Ireland, learning tunes and techniques from local musicians. Brigid played regularly with the uilleann pipes player, Tomas O Canainn in Glanmire, Cork and other well known traditional musicians. She continues to pursue this interest in Bismarck with local musical groups.

Tara Wiley

Tara began playing the violin at age 3. She received over 18 years of private classical instruction from critically acclaimed instructors in Chicago, the Kansas City area, and Baylor and Kansas State Universities. Tara performed in the Baylor Symphony and held principal positions in the Kansas City Youth Symphony (where she received the coveted Ruth Speilman award) and Kansas State Symphony Orchestra.

After receiving a degree in Elementary Education, Tara taught in schools in Kansas, North Dakota, Mississippi, and Louisiana, while following her husband’s Air Force career. She has continued to teach private lessons throughout her adult life, and has performed in a variety of venues, including performances with the Grand Forks Symphony and a season as concertmistress of the Starkville Symphony Orchestra in Mississippi.

Tara has also used her gift of improvisation to add a layer to worship in a variety of churches across America. While in Louisiana, she participated in worship leadership for the most highly viewed Sunday morning televised service in the Ark-La-Tex (for First Baptist Church of Bossier City).

She has also performed for local festivals and special events, including the Red River Festival in hreveport, Louisiana, with Eddie Anders. Tara has recorded for a variety of Christian artists, including Freda Tapp, Melodie Griffin, and Lee Baker. She has also recorded for background music in local advertising, and can often be found performing for special events around town.

Most recently, Tara has been honored to be part of special productions at River Crossings in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, alongside critically acclaimed