In
Wendy Azrak is a violist and music educator who currently resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She received her BM in Viola performance and MM with string specialty from the University of Michigan, and she holds a teacher’s certificate in the states of Michigan and Colorado. Wendy also holds a CMP (Certified Music Practitioner) from the Music for Healing and Transition Program.
Wendy currently maintains a private studio in Ann Arbor (Scio Ridge Suzuki Studio), and is a core member of the Ann Arbor Suzuki Institute. She was director of Huron Valley Suzuki Program for seven years. She has taught numerous workshops, festivals and Institutes over the years in multiple states. As a violist, Wendy has played with the Flint Symphony, Toledo Symphony, Littleton Symphony, and the Life Sciences Orchestra.
Wendy has been a Suzuki Teacher Trainer through the Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA). She has led numerous ECC (Every Child Can) classes and unit training. Wendy is active at the state and national level, presently a member of the following boards: Suzuki Association of the Americas and the Michigan American String Teachers Association. In January 2016, Wendy was honored to be named MASTA's Studio Teacher of the Year.
She is known for her welcoming and skillful encouragement of new Suzuki teachers, and new Suzuki Teacher Trainers. In short, Wendy demonstrates a strong desire to nurture communities by bringing teachers, students and families together to experience the joy of music.
Wendy Azrak is a violist and music educator who currently resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She received her BM in Viola performance and MM with string specialty from the University of Michigan, and she holds a teacher’s certificate in the states of Michigan and Colorado. Wendy also holds a CMP (Certified Music Practitioner) from the Music for Healing and Transition Program.
Wendy currently maintains a private studio in Ann Arbor (Scio Ridge Suzuki Studio), and is a core member of the Ann Arbor Suzuki Institute. She was director of Huron Valley Suzuki Program for seven years. She has taught numerous workshops, festivals and Institutes over the years in multiple states. As a violist, Wendy has played with the Flint Symphony, Toledo Symphony, Littleton Symphony, and the Life Sciences Orchestra.
Wendy has been a Suzuki Teacher Trainer through the Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA). She has led numerous ECC (Every Child Can) classes and unit training. Wendy is active at the state and national level, presently a member of the following boards: Suzuki Association of the Americas and the Michigan American String Teachers Association. In January 2016, Wendy was honored to be named MASTA's Studio Teacher of the Year.
She is known for her welcoming and skillful encouragement of new Suzuki teachers, and new Suzuki Teacher Trainers. In short, Wendy demonstrates a strong desire to nurture communities by bringing teachers, students and families together to experience the joy of music.
My Personal InspirationMary Harder Eliason was an accomplished cellist, and my mother. I was raised in a household where music was alive and everywhere.
Both violin and viola were integral in my university studies as well as my church.
I have been blessed that all three of my daughters, Claire, Marie Therese and Annie have studied Suzuki.
Our next generation, Adam, is beginning Suzuki cello lessons and I am proud to see the Suzuki traditions continuing.
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Scio Ridge Suzuki StudioSAA Teacher TrainingSAA Board of DirectorsWendy is active at the state and national level, presently a member of the following boards: Suzuki Association of the Americas and the Michigan American String Teachers Association.
Wendy also holds a CMP (Certified Music Practitioner) from the Music for Healing and Transition Program.
Certified Music Practitioner - MHTP |
The Gift of a Teacher
by Erica Wood “Musical training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul.”—Plato In my life I have been a student, a parent and a teacher. I have seen this triad from all sides and believe that it is a sacred relationship. The genius of the Suzuki method is including the parent in the lesson. The parent and student are learning side-by-side, absorbing the teacher’s insights and techniques to continue in the home setting. I had no idea when I signed my child up for Suzuki violin lessons twenty years ago that I was going to be learning so much about teaching, about mothering, about life. I have been watching Wendy Azrak, our teacher, for twenty years. Week after week, year after year, for seven of my children, I have been sitting in my chair just off to the side, or on the floor where I am a little more hidden and listened and learned. I note the little catch phrases she uses to make a difficult practice spot into a game little fingers can master, writing it down in my little book. In our practice times, I would find myself getting impatient and frustrated, and read the little gems she had given me. I saw that she was never panicked or impatient, and began to know that progress is rarely linear, that learning is not always something quantifiable or measureable. I watch her using her creativity to try something new when the technique that worked for all the other twinklers doesn’t work for this one. Mostly I watched my children respond to her guidance, hardly aware of how it was changing me. Many times trying to teach my children other things, I would remember Wendy’s approaches and see how I could apply them in this situation. It allowed me to find a way through the seemingly insurmountable obstacles even when I felt there was no roadmap. Do the next little task. Pick apart the hardest part and the rest will fall into place. Learning builds upon learning, and nothing is really wasted. Mostly, make it into a game and have some fun. Wendy once said to me that it takes twenty years to be a good teacher. Having just begun a part-time teaching job myself, and crying on her shoulder about my frustrations and failures, this gave me hope. What about the students I had now, I wondered? Were they wasting their time as my guinea pigs? She pointed out that what they were getting was my enthusiasm, my eagerness to learn the craft. I realized the truth in this. I was giving them myself, and we were learning alongside each other. However much we accomplished, we would each be more than we were before. And that, ultimately, is the priceless gift a teacher gives. April 22, 2015 Erica Wood is a mother of eight, homeschooler, and puts 30,000 miles a year on her car getting everyone where they need to be. She has been with the same wonderful Suzuki teacher for twenty of those years, and is now learning how to be a grandmother from this wise friend. |