Our Mission
At Suzuki Institute of Boston, it is our mission and dream to fulfill the teachings and dreams of Dr. Shinichi Suzuki. We fully believe every child and person is able and should have an equal opportunity to learn to play and appreciate the world of music, regardless of background, culture, status, or wealth.
At the Suzuki Institute of Boston, we use the teaching points and original materials of Dr. Suzuki from Japan. SIB has been developing supplementary materials including a series of practice recordings for both technical development and ensemble skills to accompany Dr. Suzuki’s original materials as well.
Suzuki Institute of Boston makes an active effort to recruit a very diverse faculty and student body in community-based settings. The founder/director supervises all violin teachers at SIB while closely adhering to Dr. Suzuki’s teaching points. Many of our faculty members over the years have advanced degrees from leading music schools as well as active performing and recording careers. Over the years we have had many teachers of different races and ethnicities, and sent the only African-American violin teacher ever to study with Dr. Suzuki in Japan.
Our History
Our Director & Founder
The Suzuki Institute of Boston was established in 1986 by Mr. Donald Becker, our current director, after completing three years of studies with Dr. Shinichi Suzuki and Ms. Yuko Mori in Matsumoto, Japan between 1983 and 1986 at the Talent Education Research Institute (TERI) which he received his teacher’s diploma. SIB is the only Suzuki program in New England to be specifically authorized by Dr. Shinichi Suzuki himself. Donald Becker has performed as a soloist at the summer school and the national teacher’s conference of the Talent Education Research Institute (TERI) in Japan. He founded the Massachusetts Suzuki Festival, the Suzuki Association of Massachusetts, and brought the International Suzuki Conference to Massachusetts in 1979.
Before Mr. Becker’s studies at the TERI, he trained with Ms. Anastasia Jempelis and Francis Tursi at the Eastman School of Music as a masters candidate of viola performance. He also studied at the summer program of the Kodály Center of America, and still teaches the Kodaly music classes at the Suzuki Institute of Boston. In addition to the Suzuki and Kodály methods, studied the Alexander Technique in Boston for over three years.
Mr. Becker speaks and can teach in Japanese. While in Japan he created a series of study tapes for the 100 haikus by Kobayashi Issa that are taught in the Talent Education program in Japan. He used these to learn all 100 himself from memory and could perform them with the Japanese drill tapes.
Donald Becker has recorded an extensive series of practice CDs including the ABCs of Duets by Janice Tucker Rhoda. The duet and ensemble CDs include canons and selections from the standard string quartet and string orchestra literature.