Mexico Project

At Ithaca Talent Education Suzuki School providing Suzuki music instruction in the Ithaca, New York area, we have a most wonderful connection with the city of Guanajuato, Mexico in the person of our violin teacher, Augusto Diemecke. Augusto grew up in Guanajuato in a musical family, and his mother and two sisters are still very active in the musical life of this beautiful old colonial city. At Augusto’s urging and with the help of his family in Mexico, the ITE Violin Tour Ensemble gave a concert tour of the area in 2000.
We presented several concerts in neighboring cities and at the University of Guanajuato. A small remnant of Suzuki trained students were still studying, and Sandy Reuning with the help of Augusto’s translations gave master class lessons to these violinists.
	One of the highlights of the tour was visiting an orphanage, housing approximately 300 children, and performing for each other, as they also had an active music program! Much excitement was generated by our visit, motivating local teachers to seek out training in the Suzuki Method.
After returning to Ithaca we arranged to have a few of these teachers enroll for training in the Ithaca College Suzuki Institute, tuition free, for the next two years. In 2003 Etna Diemecke, sister of Augusto, and his mother Carmen, organized a Festival (or Institute as it’s called in the U.S.) and invited teachers from ITE to serve as the faculty.
	We gave training in Book 1 for a large number of teachers as well as teaching the students from Mexico and other Latin American countries. Student cellists, Stefan Diemecke, Madeleine-Therese Halpert, David Myers, Marza Wilks and violinists, Keelin Davis, Alejandra Diemecke, Rachel Myers, and Sonya Suter from Ithaca Talent Education Suzuki School joined the Festival as special guest performers. ITE families gathered instructional materials to donate to the program in Mexico, where many cannot afford either lessons or instruments. Other programs in the U.S. raised money to donate violins, and we helped to transport them to Guanajuato
The project continued in 2004 with the same faculty of Augusto Diemecke, Christine Lowe Diemecke, Carrie Reuning Hummel, Jennifer Reuning Myers, Sandy Reuning, and Joan Reuning (pianist). Keelin Davis returned to the Festival to perform a full guest recital with pianist Jason Wentworth. In 2005 Benjamin Hummel and Emerson Millar were guest soloists (as well as excellent street musicians, raising money for scholarships!) at the Festival. As of the 2005 Festival, Mexican violin teachers have been trained through three books of the Method, and cello training under Carol Tarr from Denver has commenced.
It’s exciting to see the Suzuki Method take root in a new country, and it is beginning to spread to many parts of Mexico. With help of hard working teachers in Mexico, and with the backing and advice of our ITE group, there is now a national Suzuki Association in Mexico which is actively planning for the future growth in their country.
We expect to have a long and productive relationship with Mexico.