Warsaw Flute Workshop a great success!

By Dorota

25th March 2024

The Warsaw Flute Worshop which was organised on 16-17 March 2024 in the capital of Poland was a great success !

The idea of the workshop was to combine a SUZUKI™ Flute performance by Suzuki children within a big orchestra led by a professional conductor.  The workshop organiser, Dorota Buczyńska-Prokopowicz, invited a famous Italian conductor, Paolo Totti, to lead the Flute Orchestra including SUZUKI™ Flute Teachers, Flute students and Suzuki teenagers, as well as a group of small children just starting their journey in SUZUKI™ World.

Maestro Paolo Totti performing his day-to-day activities as a Director of a professional Italian orchestra Falaut Flute Orchestra was asked to conduct a big flute orchestra of a diverse age group of over 50 people including professionals, adults, teenagers and 14 Suzuki children.  The Suzuki children were asked to play their first Suzuki songs: Mary, Fireflies, Lightly Row, Cuckoo, Twinkle Twinkle and Allegro with an accompaniment of not only a piano but also a big orchestra playing classical music pieces at the same time.

The repertoire chosen for the workshop was also a unique experience for all orchestra members.  It included classical pieces but in special arrangements for a big flute orchestra and small children educated by the SUZUKI™ Method.  The workshop final concert included two parts:

Firstly, Suzuki teachers led their students in a performance of Suzuki pieces for beginners: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Allegro by S. Suzuki and Menuet in G by J. S. Bach.

The second part of the concert consisted of 9 pieces performed by a flute orchestra and Suzuki children, including:

William Tell & Mary by G. Rossini, Hänschen Klein of LondonderryRigoletto Cuckoo by G. Verdi and Fireflies Dance the Farandole by G. Bizet - songs arranged for Suzuki children by an American Suzuki teacher, Noel Perrin;

Whistle While You Work – with the flute part for Suzuki children arranged by Dorota Buczyńska-Prokopowicz;

SpringSummer and Autumn from Four seasons by A. Vivaldi – arranged for flute orchestra by Paolo Totti.

For the encore – Canon by J. Pachelbel

It seems that the workshop added great value for the SUZUKI™ Method.  It provided small children with a unique opportunity to be a part of a big orchestra.  It also proved that SUZUKI™ Method teaches children so effectively that even at the very beginning of their flute education they can perform on a concert stage being directed in classical repertoire by a professional conductor.

The next orchestral workshop of this kind is planned to be organized in Warsaw, Poland in spring 2025

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