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After two years of online festivals and one year off to evaluate our situation, the Festival Committee of the Suzuki Association of Peru (ASP) made the rather precarious decision to hold an in person only festival in January of 2024. It was a dangerous decision due to the unpredictability of the event: how would the enrollment in teacher training be when people are accustomed to online training where there is no issue with travel or accommodation costs? So, we were conservative in the number of teacher training courses offered and with the length of the festival. We opted for two weeks instead of three and teacher training in only violin and piano.
However, we enjoyed the benefit of all our zoom online experience in many ways. Our festival committee which works year-round was international: Annika Petrozzi (Finland), Luciana Castillo (Brazil), Caroline Fraser (Scotland, USA}, Nicolas Ponce (Arequipa, Peru), Roberta Centurion, Kia Cárdenas, Nayet Cárdenas, (Lima, Peru). During the festival our producer, Luciana led from Brazil while Annika co-cordinated from Finland along with Roberta Centurion. Adriana Paliza, our Association treasurer for almost 40 years stayed at home in Lima preparing for surgery but was in the loop thanks to Whataspp. Our orientation meeting for students and families was held very successfully online. The children felt free to talk and ask questions and the general feeling was that it was far more productive than the in-person inaugurations we had organized in the past. It has been highly recommended that this event remains virtual!
Over 300 participants from Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, USA and from many regions of Peru attended. Large groups of students from the jungle city of Iquitos, from the Andean region of Huancavelica and Huancayo, and for the first time in the festival we had students from Abancay who travelled 18 hours by bus to participate.
This year we introduced new courses for teachers, based on the need of our teachers: José Márcio Galvão gave a very successful course on Group Teaching based on his own teaching and results in Brazil and Dario Dominguez´s orchestral conducting for youth orchestras course attracted additional participants from the broader musical community. Level 2 is already being planned for 2025. Once again Jeremy Dittus gave a dynamic and much needed Dalcroze course and for the first time included the teacher participants observing Jeremy work with children.
What are the benefits of the in-person festival? It is difficult to put into words as so much is transmitted just by being present. Relationships are strengthened beyond measure, friendships are more meaningful, community is built, and teamwork takes on quite a different dynamic. Families, children and teachers learn so much more in a 5 day immersion, 5 hours a day of a complete musical environment via the workshops, lessons, group classes, concerts, opportunities to perform with orchestra, ensemble, and small groups. There is personal contact and interaction between students, parents and teachers which is highly motivating. Children make new musical friends and there are many opportunities to exchange experiences and ideas and to plan for the future. In addition, there is the opportunity for teachers and families to see and acquire the latest teaching materials, accessories and instruments. The teacher participants experience the larger Suzuki community and can see a much bigger picture. They see the dedication of so many parents who have made participation in the festival a family priority. They can meet the teachers of the students they are observing. They bond in a different way with their classmates and with their teacher trainer especially during informal moments outside of the classroom which cannot be recreated online. The teacher-student relationship is much more sensitive as the teacher can feel how the child feels, can transmit more empathy, intimacy and through physical contact can help the child in a more natural way.
In conclusion, online teacher training courses are most definitely here to stay and are necessary allowing for more inclusion and greater accessibility for all. In-person events such as festivals simply cannot be replaced as effectively online. We held a lively teachers’ get-together (Encuentro) in which new ideas, and new leaders emerged within our Association which would not have been possible online. The in-person festival brought together a cross section of families and teachers from the jungle, the Andean mountain and coastal areas of the country. The in-person festival strengthened our ability to work as a team while we were guided from a distance, with Annika in Finland and Luciana in Brazil. We enjoyed the best of both worlds!
Our thanks to our locale Colegio Inmaculada, to the ASP Board, to our administrative team, the festival committee, the SAA and donors from Peru and the USA. Special thanks to Yuko Hirama.
“Working together we can change the world” Shinichi Suzuki.
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