More than 100 Suzuki students from Houston and Midland to Oklahoma will be arriving with violins, violas and cellos for the 11^th Annual Greenville Suzuki Strings Workshop.

Some of the most in-demand Suzuki teachers in the U.S. will lead instruction for both students and teachers.  The workshop, which begins Friday, Feb. 2, is sponsored by Greenville ISD and the Greenville Suzuki Strings Association. It will conclude with a concert from 4-5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3 to be performed by all the students. More than 200 students have participated in the past, and the concert is free and open to the public. 

If you would like to place a business ad in our program, please email greenvillesuzukistrings@gmail.com.  Funding for this event is provided in part by the City of Greenville Hotel/Motel Occupancy Tax Revenues. Visit www.GreenvilleSuzukiStrings.org for more information on the Workshop or the Greenville Suzuki Strings Program.

Here are few of the many notable Master Teachers returning to this year's workshop:

Jenny Burton has been teaching Suzuki violin and viola lessons since 1977 and currently teaches at the Aber Suzuki Center at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where she received her Master of Music Education Degree with Suzuki Emphasis with Margery Aber. Burton taught in Dallas from 1993 to 2003 at the Suzuki Institute of Dallas and was a sole proprietor of Burton Suzuki Studio from 2003-2011. Burton has been a violin clinician at 200 workshops and institutes across the United States and served a three-year term on the SAA Board of Directors from 1996-1999. Burton is a founding member of the Suzuki Association of Wisconsin (SAW), and the North Texas Suzuki Association (NTSA).   Her publications include her book, Sharpen Your Tools: A Practice Companion for Suzuki Parents and Teachers, and numerous articles in the American Suzuki Journal.

Dr. Scott Conklin regularly performs throughout the United States and abroad, and he is Associate Professor of Violin at The University of Iowa School of Music and a violin teacher at the Preucil School of Music. He is the 2008 Iowa String Teachers Association Leopold LaFosse Teacher of the Year, and his album Violinguistics—American Voices is available on Albany Records. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from The Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied violin with David Updegraff and chamber music with Peter Salaff. Conklin also earned Master of Music and Doctorate of Musical Arts degrees from The University of Michigan School of Music as a student of Paul Kantor.

Dr. Timothy Durbin’s unique brand of teaching excellence makes him one of the most sought-after clinicians/conductors in the country. With infectious enthusiasm and inspired musicianship, he brings smiles and laughter to students throughout the United States and around the world.  His dynamic teaching career includes over 800 workshops and institutes! His performance and teaching career stretches across the United States and Canada into Bermuda, Europe, and Far East. He has recorded two CDs, including the complete chamber music of Marcel Dupre for the Naxos label. Dr. Durbin holds a DMA in orchestral conducting from Claremont Graduate University in Los Angeles, California, a master’s degree in violin performance from the University of Illinois, an undergraduate degree in violin performance from the University of Alabama, and currently serves as director of the Suzuki String Program at the University of Louisville.

Cellist Rodney Farrar, a native of Ann Arbor, Mich., graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He later studied at the Eastman School of Music and Indiana University with noted cellists Ronald Leonard and Janos Starker. It was at Oberlin, however, that Rodney was impelled toward a music career by the passionate teaching of a young Peter Howard, long time Twin Cities cellist, to whom he is deeply grateful.  Rodney has long had a special love for teaching children and has been privileged to be involved in the development of Suzuki cello teaching from its beginning in this country. In March of 2008 he was honored to be a guest of the Talent Education Research Institute in Tokyo where he held master classes and group lessons and directed the cello portion of their 52nd annual Grand Concert.  Rodney has published a number of mixed level cello choir arrangements which have become popular with teachers around the country.

Paul Landefeld holds a bachelor’s degree in Viola Performance from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master’s degree in Music Education from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. He has participated in Suzuki conferences, workshops, and institutes throughout the United States, as well as Germany, and Far East.  In 1981 he received a certificate of Observation and Study from the Talent Education Research Institute in Matsumoto, Japan, under the tutelage of Dr. Shinichi Suzuki. Mr. Landefeld performed with colleagues at the memorial service for Dr. Suzuki in March 1998 in Japan.  Mr. Landefeld taught in the Pittsburgh area for 20 years, both in public and private programs. He is the founder and former Executive Director of Talent Education of Greater Pittsburgh. Prior to moving to Dallas as the new Director of the Suzuki Institute of Dallas, he was Director of the American Suzuki Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He also served as the Director of the Texas Christian University Suzuki Institute in Fort Worth.  He held the position of CEO of the International Suzuki Association (ISA) from 2003 until July 1, 2011, and currently serves the ISA as Interim CEO.

Danette Schuh is the Director of Dolce Music Studio, home of Dolce Strings and Dolce Babies, where she teaches violin, viola and Suzuki Early Childhood classes. She also co-directs the Dolce Strings Touring Ensemble. She is an SAA Registered SECE Teacher Trainer. As one of the teachers who taught SECE classes at the 16th World Convention in Japan, she also had the privilege of speaking and presenting the SECE curriculum in depth. A sought-after clinician at institutes, workshops, festivals and schools, she has been teaching for over 30 years, and has held positions such as President of the Houston Area Suzuki Strings Association (now Southeast Texas Suzuki Association), and state board member of Texas Music Teachers Association. She has received the Houston Music Teachers Association President’s “Bravo” award and was also awarded “Teacher of the Year.” She holds a bachelor’s degree with honors from Indiana University, where she studied violin with Tadeusz Wronski and Josef Gingold. She has had the great privilege of studying SECE with the creators of the curriculum, Dorothy Jones and Sharon Jones. Mrs. Schuh also performs with the Möbius Chamber Ensemble and as a freelance violinist and violist in the greater Houston area.

Ed Sprunger is a registered SAA teacher trainer.  He has presented at numerous state, national, and international conferences and taught hundreds of workshops throughout North and South America. He holds a BA in music from Goshen College—violin with Lon Sherer, and piano and piano pedagogy with Marvin Blickenstaff. Also trained as a psychotherapist, Mr. Sprunger holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Michigan and extensive post-degree training with the Michigan and St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institutes. He has served on the SAA board and he is author of Helping Parents Practice and Building Violin Skill.