Faculty

Keri Cassidy Taylor is a Suzuki Early Childhood Educator, Suzuki Violin Teacher and Director of Suzuki Method Northern Ireland. Suzuki trained from the age of 3, Keri feels very fortunate to have been in the first group of Suzuki children to be trained in Northern Ireland by Brigid Walton.

After graduating with BMus (Hons) from the University of Ulster, Keri starting travelling to London for the BSMA Violin Teacher Training course. After achieving Level Five, Keri was excited to learn of the introduction of Suzuki ECE Teacher Training in Europe. Currently a Level 4 ESA SECE Teacher, Keri has also travelled annually to Canada for training and has attained SAA SECE Stage 5. Keri thoroughly enjoys travelling to Suzuki courses worldwide - from Japan, Australia, Canada and extensively throughout Europe. Keri looks forward to meeting you all very soon!

Keri is teaching on the main violin course for the National Workshop this year too.

Elaine grew up in Cork, Ireland, learning violin through the Suzuki Method with Patricia Kelleher.

She now lives in Scotland, teaching privately in Glasgow and Ayr. 

Whilst studying at the RCS, Elaine won the Orchestral Prize, and the Hilda Bailey Violin Prize, and took part in many masterclasses. As a freelance violinist, Elaine has played with many orchestras across the UK and Ireland. Elaine regularly teaches at Suzuki workshops across the UK and Ireland, and is director of the Glasgow Suzuki Workshop. Elaine is also qualified as a Suzuki Viola Teacher and Suzuki Early Childhood Education (SECE) teacher.

Hannah Biss is a violin and viola teacher specialising in the Suzuki method. Having completed a two-year specialist string-teaching PGCE at the Manchester Royal Northern College of Music in 1998 – which also gave her invaluable training and experience in Dalcroze and Kodaly teaching — Hannah completed the five-year Suzuki training in 2004. Since then, she has built her private teaching practice around Barnet, where she is based. Hannah enjoys teaching and coaching orchestras at both The Hall and Westminster School. She is currently Chair of the Trustees for the British Suzuki Music Association.

Heather studied Viola and French Horn at the Royal Academy of Music and following a year`s teaching qualification got a job in Birmingham where she taught Suzuki Method in city schools for many years.

Heather started studying to be a Suzuki teacher in London with British Suzuki shortly after starting her job in Birmingham with the music service and having completed the Suzuki teacher training course she was awarded a scholarship and travelled to Japan to study with Dr Suzuki for three months.

Back in Birmingham she taught Suzuki Method in city schools for many years -becoming an Advanced Skills Teacher and then Head of Ensembles. She managed staff and ran events for seventy orchestras, ensembles, bands and groups both non auditioned and auditioned. Latterly Heather was fortunate enough to become Deputy Head of the music service in Birmingham.

During this time as a Suzuki teacher, Heather was appointed a Teacher Trainer and has, for many years, directed the British Suzuki Violin Teacher Training course in the Midlands. She is also working at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire delivering a Suzuki pedagogy program for string students and is encouraged to see that a number of these young people are considering joining a training course in the future.

Heather has a thriving private teaching studio and loves every aspect of being a Suzuki teacher and teacher trainer and hopes she can pass on the happiness and pleasure that music and teaching gives her every day…

Jenny Glester started to learn Suzuki violin at the age of 3 with Helen Brunner. By the age of 11 she was giving recitals in this country and abroad, touring Sweden once and the USA and Canada three times. 

Having obtained a degree in music from the University of Manchester followed by a Performance Diploma with Distinction from The Royal Northern College of Music, Jenny embarked on a successful freelance career and worked with all the major orchestras in the North West including The Halle, BBC Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata, Northern Chamber Orchestra and Northern Sinfonia. 

Jenny took the permanent position of Co-Principal Second Violin of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in 2004. During her 8 years there she became part of the music education team working in diverse settings within the community including delivering and evaluating music workshops for Sure Start and in mainstream schools.  Jenny also worked at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital delivering music sessions across the hospital and worked for the Mersey Care NHS Trust delivering music sessions in a variety of mental health settings.

Jenny left her orchestral post to move to Bristol and to revisit her Suzuki roots. She leads the Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra, freelances with the Bristol Ensemble, is a member of Ensemble Elan and has a flourishing Suzuki studio in Bristol with students from books 1-8. She loves teaching at Suzuki workshops and has been invited to teach in Poland, Bryanston Summer School and around the SouthWest region of the UK.

Sam Knops studied Viola and Chamber Music at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp, Belgium,  with Leo De Neve. 

After his Masters Degree, he played in the major orchestras of Belgium, including La Monnaie, Antwerp Symhonic Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonics, Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen,  and Royal Flemish Opera.

Sam took his Suzuki training with Ilona Telmanyi in Denmark, gaining level 5 for viola in 2013. He teaches the viola group ‘Con Calore’,  based in Zottegem, Belgium, who hosted the recent European Suzuki Viola Gathering in Ostende in October 2022.

Karina MacAlpine studied violin at Trinity College of Music with Hu Kun and Eszter Boda Katona. She became a Suzuki Teacher in 2000 and has a studio of pupils from Twinklers to diploma level in South-East London.  

In 2020 Karina became an ESA Teacher Trainer and so far is thoroughly enjoying the new dimension that training the future teachers has brought to her experience of the Suzuki Method.

Since 1998 Karina has been a member of the Blond String quartet. The quartet have performed on cruise ships as well as palaces, castles and prestigious hotels. They have played to Royalty and Presidents in both the UK and abroad and still very much enjoy working together.

photo © Richard Watts

Canada native Margaret Parkin began her musical studies as a Suzuki violin student with Richard Lawrence at the age of 4. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance from Queen's University (ON) and a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from McGill University where she studied under the direction of Iwan Edwards and John Baboukis. She is an ESA graduate teacher for both violin and viola, chair of the BSMA Events Committee, an ESA Violin Teacher Trainer, Director of BSMA Violin Teacher Training in London, and a member of the ESA Violin Committee.

Margaret is the director of the Oxford Suzuki String Group where she maintains a private studio of violin and viola students. She has previously served as director of the Exeter Suzuki String Group, as a member of faculty at the Suzuki String School of Guelph (ON), and director of the Guelph Youth Music Centre String Orchestras. She is a regular guest clinician, conductor, and speaker at workshops and institutes in Canada, the UK, and Europe. Her most rewarding role is that of Suzuki parent to her teenage son.

Alexander Technique (additional charge; see below)

Henry George is a recognised, accredited expert in the field of posture and the Alexander Technique, and has presented at conferences and workshops in the UK and abroad. 

He has worked with young musicians in schools, on Suzuki courses and at the London conservatoires. He currently teaches Alexander Technique at Junior Trinity conservatoire in Greenwich, London. 

As well as teaching the Alexander Technique, he has a special interest in helping people address performance anxiety. He is based in Bristol and you can learn more about his work at www.alexandertechniquebristol.co.uk

The Alexander Technique is an essential skill for young musicians. It reduces muscle tension, improves posture and performance, and restores emotional balance. In short, it focuses on young people's wellbeing for their music-making and beyond.

To arrange a session at the NSW, please call/ Whatsapp/ text Henry on 07970 549 868 before or during the workshop. The fee is £40 for a 45 minute session and payment can be made by cash or by card at the session. Parents are welcome to attend or not as they prefer.

Introduction to Film Music

Emma Butterworth grew up in the Suzuki Method, beginning the cello at the age of 4 and learning with Christine Livingstone. She studied at Cambridge University, and later trained as a Suzuki teacher.

As well as playing and teaching, Emma is a prolific composer and arranger of music for a wide variety of ensembles and genres. She has a Master's in Composition for Film and TV from the University of Bristol and is a member of BAFTA Connect.

Emma has scored over a dozen films and has also recently completed 'Orchard Street', her first opera, funded by Arts Council England.

www.emmabutterworthmusic.com