Santa Ana Suzuki Strings is a program that was founded at OCCTAC by Cynthia Faisst, who trained for 3 years under Dr. Suzuki in Japan and the founder and Executive Director of OCCTAC, Dr. Ana Jimenez. the Summer of 2006. SASS provides Suzuki Violin Instruction for underserved children in the Santa Ana/Orange County metropolitan community. The Orange County Children's Therapeutic Arts Center is located in the Santa Ana Arts District close to the Cube on the I 5. It makes Afterschool Arts programs accessible for Santa Ana children and Arts Therapy for underserved special needs children.
SASS is a Suzuki Violin program that has evolved to adapt to the needs of urban children. Parents participate with their children ages 3 and up in classes of 8 to 10 students. They also meet for Group lessons on Saturday where they can be exposed to more advanced students and review skills that they are learning in their classes. All students are expected to listen to CDs from the Suzuki method daily using the single repeat button on their CD player. They are also given instructional material on DVD prepared by Ms. Cynthia to assist with practicing at home.
Young Violin students need to move to learn. Twinklers are busy learning to balance their bows and their bodies on open strings. PreTwinklers are actively making connections between their ears and hands with the music. Violin is a technical skill that can be made accessible to a preschooler. There is so much that children can learn from moving well with their violins. Every skill we master using the Twinkle variations is designed to prepare children to play advanced pieces in the repertoire. The violin is using every part of their brains to learn.
The older students that you see in the video may have only had 3 years or less in our program. They have been pioneers in a community where few of their friends have the opportunity to play a violin. Their progress is influenced by exposure to regional Suzuki activities and programs. Students from the Talent Education Center program, also directed by Ms. Cynthia provide peer influence and mentoring when ever possible. We are always looking for mature Suzuki Students who would like to do community service in our SASS program.
Everyone participates in end of semester recitals at their level. By the time you see this many of these students may be progressing into book II and III. The only thing holding us back is the need for student friendly violins. By the time our PreTwinklers graduate to Twinklers these parents believe their children can not get enough instruction time with the teacher or experience playing with others. While the Suzuki Method is used as core material students are encouraged to learn supplementary, alternative and ethnically relevant music. We are looking forward to being able to play a wide variety of music in our community.
As you watch this video please realize that there is much more going on here than meets the eye. Instruction and enhancement of the learning environment is being planned at many levels. We are using every resource we can get to raise the aspirations of these children because we know that the longer we can keep them in this program the more likely that they will finish school and go on to college. copywrite, 2010, SASS/OCCTAC
Inicially you will see that the preschoolers in this video are struggling just to hold the ball up. By the time they are able to hold the bow up on the violin to play Twinkle they have the endurance and the controle to follow the bowing with the ball. As they move through Book I they memorize the bowing before they even put the bow on the strings.
Ms Cynthia started using some of these technics in 1992 with PreTwinklers and older students in her TEC studio. Some methods are exclusive to her curriculm development. They are unique to TEC and SASS programs.
- for educational purposes only, please contact us if you would like permission to use this material on another site.
Thank you.
www.occtac.org
Pieces:
Minuet I
Minuet II
Allegro
Long, Long Ago
O Come Little Children
Go Tell Aunt Rhody
Song of the Wind
Lightly Row
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
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A Closer lookby sasuzukistrings180 views
Very good ,Thanks To The teacher (cynthia Faisst ),She works hardly with every child. i like the work she does, no matter what every body said I like it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!just keep going.
edithgarcia1201 10 months ago