US classical musicians head to Harare

According to a campaign on the Go Fund Me website, the purpose of the two musicians’ visit to Zimbabwe is to bring awareness of the Suzuki method and its benefit to the Harare community. The campaign is expected to help fund Suzuki training programmes and provide musical guidance through lessons, group classes and ensemble coaching as well as inspiring performances for students, parents and teachers.

Created by Japanese violinist and pedagogue Shinichi Suzuki, the Suzuki method is a music curriculum and teaching philosophy dating back to the mid-20th century. The method aims to create an environment for learning music that parallels the linguistic environment of acquiring a native language. Suzuki believed that this environment would also help to foster good moral character.

“I am so excited to share a project that a lot of people have been working hard on,” Wehrs said on Facebook. “This is a collaboration between me and my friend and colleague, Ellie Glorioso-Wible, and several schools in Harare, Zimbabwe. I was honoured to be able to spend a week last summer in this amazing community with Music Inspire Africa, and I can't wait to return, this time with a focus on the Suzuki method.”

Dubbed the Cleveland Harare Music Exchange, the project “came to me after a trip to Harare where I was wonderfully surprised to find a fledgling Suzuki community in their local schools, dedicated teachers, enthusiastic and talented students, and supportive parents”, Wehrs said.

Glorioso-Wible also took to Facebook to urge support via the Go Fund Me campaign. “Please share and support me and Sylvia Wehrs in our newly founded music exchange in Harare, Zimbabwe,” she said.

Wehrs is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music where she attained a bachelor’s degree in violin performance and Suzuki pedagogy. She is a registered teacher through the Suzuki Association of the Americas and maintains a private studio of students. Glorioso-Wible, also a Cleveland Institute of Music graduate, boasts of a master’s degree in cello performance and Suzuki pedagogy. She has participated in masterclasses with musicians such as violinist Jaime Laredo and pianist Daniel Shapiro and has toured Italy and Slovenia with Trio Glorioso.