Chicago Suzuki Institute (CSI) 2018

The Maks

This year, our family spent a week with the Chicago Suzuki Institute, and to us all, that was about the ideal summer vacation.

The Chicago Suzuki Institute takes place every year in the picturesque campus of Trinity International University, a small private university situated in Deerfield, which is a quiet suburb about 1 hour on the train from downtown Chicago.

The campus provided a serene environment where everyone you saw, and everything everyone did, was about music and nothing else – and for a week, we were blessed with the blissful feeling that everything that counted was good music. And remarkably – everything was so well-organized, one really didn’t have to worry about anything else.  

Each day of the week started with orchestra rehearsal sessions – Ian was in an advanced orchestra under the direction of Ms Marilyn Kesler and Julian played first violins in Mr Aaron Kaplan’s orchestra. They were both amazing conductors and teachers – players learned the etiquette and skills required of orchestral players, and the improvement the orchestras showed in the week – preparing some rather difficult pieces – was simply amazing. Then the students broke out into different group classes, masterclasses, chamber music sessions and enrichment classes.

In Master Classes, Julian and Ian learned a lot by improving their skills in a focused manner, even in the short space of one week. Repertoire/ Group classes were advanced exercises in ensembleship and musicianship. Julian was able to see the Bach Gavotte in a new light with Ms. Kathleen Spring in his master class, and in repertoire class he learned from Mrs. Susan Macdonald. Mrs. Macdonald and Ms. Diane were actually classmates in violin class when they were kids!

Ian had an amazing time working with his peers and Mr. David Holmes on Goltermann’s Rondo – along with spasms of laughter from Mr. Holme’s humorous manner of portraying musical expressions. He learned to improve his posture and vibrato while studying the Sicilienne with Ms. Mary Walters in master class.

Ian was lucky to be arranged to join a chamber group of 3 cellists, with matching skills and character, to learn and prepare for a performance of Michael Kibbe’s Chant and Fugue by the end of the week. Miss Julia Wen, their tutor, made sure that the sessions were fun-filled, yet focused and effective, in enriching the kids’ skills as chamber musicians.

As an enrichment program, Julian was able to join a thoroughly enjoyable class called ‘Fiddle Jam’ playing folk music and learning the basics of improvisation.

The Cello Choir was the cellists’ privilege – as we learned that only the cello had the broad range to allow it to do the ‘cello parts’ as well as covering for some violin and viola parts – at this ‘mecca’ of cellos in the world of Suzuki – there were so many cello students that filling the whole orchestra with capable cellists was nowhere difficult. Under the direction of Mr. Aaron Kaplan, the ‘choir’ learned and perfected pieces as beautiful as they were challenging- including Bernstein’s “America” and “Libera Me” from Fauré’s Requiem, skillfully adapted for the cello choir.

Scattered throughout the week were the lunch time and evening concerts, held in the iconic Olson Chapel. Students passing auditions could get a chance to play a solo piece in one of the recitals – Julian was lucky to be able to perform the 2nd movement from Vivaldi’s A minor violin concerto- the beautiful hall and wonderful acoustics certainly made it a larger-than-life experience for the young man. The opportunity to listen to the performances of students of all levels as well as faculty members was also enjoyable and highly educational for music lovers and learners.   

Between classes, students, parents and faculty had ample opportunity to mingle, play ball games and lawn games. Ian and Julian particularly enjoyed swimming in the pool in the hotel, which was just across the road from the campus.

The week culminated in orchestral, chamber music and group-class concerts, where the groups gave performances of pieces they learned and rehearsed as a group while in the camp. The degree of concentration and musicality displayed in the concerts were incredible – the audience certainly bore witness to the actualization of Dr. Suzuki’s ideal – the children and youngsters really played as if music were their mother tongue – spontaneous, genuine and pure.

No sooner than the camp drew to an end, Ian and Julian asked to return next year. And I thought we probably will, if they work hard to earn it!

Ian’s favorites:

• Mr. Holmes was particularly funny. He always made funny gestures or actions while we were playing our repertoire in group class.
• The environment was good and the weather was perfect.
• Food in the canteen is really good!
• I made new friends through the CSI and I hope to see them again next year.

Julian’s favorites:

• In Master class with Ms. Spring, I benefited from focusing on one learning point each day.
• Fiddle Jam class with Ms. Crystal Plohman Wiegman at the end of every day was so much fun. Although I was tired, but the fiddle music really cheered me up. I enjoyed playing new music and improvising with other kids. The fiddle jam performance and cookie party on the last day were highlight of the programme.
• Swimming pool in the hotel was also one of my favorites.