The Suzuki Method is a unique method of music education based on children's acquisition of speech. Originating in Japan, the Suzuki Method is now one of the most influential and popular methods of music instruction in the world. Aspects of the method include: early-age instruction, parental involvement, ear-training, positive reinforcement, memory training, and communal learning.
The Blair School of Music has one of the most established and well-regarded Suzuki programs in the United States. Our teachers are highly trained and in regular demand as guest-artist teachers across North America.
Our Suzuki Program consists of two 15-week semesters that include weekly private and group lessons. Additionally, Suzuki students participate in a group concert and solo recital each semester. All students gather monthly for play-ins, large group classes focused on augmenting students' joy of music. Other special events include workshops with guest artists, parent lectures, and other fun social programming.
When students reach an advanced level, they are invited to participate in our violin performance group and cello choir. In these ensembles, students intensively prepare repertoire for performances at the Blair School of Music as well as in the surrounding communities.
The Blair School of Music offers Suzuki instruction in violin, cello, and trumpet, and is accepting students as young as 4 years old. For more information, or to register for our program, please contact Zachary Ebin at 615-322-7665 or zachary.ebin@vanderbilt.edu
Starting Fall 2023, Blair Academy will be offering Suzuki Trumpet! Fred Sienkiewicz is the first Suzuki trumpet teacher in the state of Tennessee and among the first 100 worldwide. Sienkiewicz is an active freelance trumpeter in Middle Tennessee, having performed with the Nashville Symphony, Nashville Opera, and Nashville Ballet and serving as a regular member of the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra and The Jackson Symphony. Before coming to middle Tennessee, Sienkiewicz performed throughout greater Boston and taught trumpet at Plymouth State University (N.H.), Keene State College (N.H.), and Gordon College, and has also maintained an active private studio for more than 15 years. Sienkiewicz earned degrees in trumpet performance from University of Massachusetts, Amherst (B.M.), the New England Conservatory of Music (M.M.), and Boston University (D.M.A.).
Our Faculty
Spring 2024 Suzuki Programs
Suzuki 1
30 minute private lesson and weekly group class. Contact the program director for more information.
Suzuki 2
Suzuki 3
Programs and Classes
- Blair Academy Student Handbook
- Register for Academy Classes
- Scholarships & Financial Aid
- Vanderbilt Youth Orchestras
- Vanderbilt Youth Choirs
- Vanderbilt Suzuki Program
- Private Lessons
- Fiddle
- Chamber Music and Collaborative Piano
- Beginning and Partner Piano
- Music Theory and Wellness for Musicians
- Musicology and Ethnomusicology
- Blair Hit Songwriter Series
- Parking