Keys in our Community: Important Lessons in Character Development

“The heart that feels music will feel people.” - Shinichi Suzuki

A key component of our Suzuki program is the focus on character development among our students.  While success as a student musician can obviously mean learning new music or mastering challenging new techniques, in our program we also celebrate when a student perseveres through adversity, develops the confidence to perform in front of an audience, or gains pleasure from sharing their gift of music.

That focus on character development is one of the reasons why we created our Keys in Our Community outreach program.  Our teachers organize recitals in local nursing homes and care centres to share music with residents who can often no longer attend concerts or performances outside their home.  The residents enjoy hearing live music, tapping their feet, keeping time with their hands, or even singing along.  Many also appreciate the opportunity to visit and interact with our young musicians and their families. 

For our students, the opportunity to perform in a care centre has so many benefits.  Our students learn to interact with people who are different from them, experience empathy, and can develop a sense of social responsibility and belonging.  They learn how much their gift of music can mean to someone else.

At a recent concert on a dementia care unit in north Edmonton, our students began to play a selection of music, including some tunes that were familiar to the residents.  The residents, who had initially been quiet and unengaged and a little intimidating to some of our musicians, were so pleased to tap their feet and sing along to old favourites like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Somewhere Over the Rainbow and My Favourite Things from the Sound of Music.  It was touching to see the residents come to life with these familiar tunes, and it was a powerful moment for our teachers, musicians, and their families to see how their performances could be so impactful.