I hope all of you have had a happy and healthy holiday season and a wonderful beginning to the New Year.  We on the board of SMAC/LA are very excited about all the outstanding workshops, master classes, concerts, and instrument graduations that will take place over the next several months.  We are also looking forward to the SAA Conference this Memorial Day weekend in Minneapolis, and of course, our third annual summer Suzuki Institute in July, once again at the beautiful Scripps College campus.

First on our schedule is the Orange County Winter Teacher Workshop sponsored by the Orange County chapter of SMAC/LA with Nancy Lokken on Saturday, February 6 for student master classes to be held at the First Baptist Church of Irvine in Tustin, and also on Sunday, February 7th for the teacher workshop taking place at UC Irvine from 9:30-4 p.m.  There may still be a few spots remaining in both the master classes and the teacher workshop--contact Jasmin Putnam at ViolinPro@aol.com for further information.  Don't forget that you can always observe the master classes as well, even if your students are not participating, and it is a great opportunity to peek over the shoulder of a master teacher at work!

Then the cellists have their turn with the Winter Suzuki Cello workshop co-sponsored by the National Cello Institute and the Pasadena Conservatory of Music on Saturday, February 13th at the Claremont Congregational Church from 11 a.m.to 6 p.m., and then on Sunday, February 14th at the Pasadena Conservatory from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., featuring Pam Devenport as guest cello master teacher.  Although registration for this event has already closed, contact Rick Mooney at www.nationalcelloinstitute.com to find out if there might be any cancellations or last-minute openings.

And then the most anticipated and elegant evening of the season, the return of the SMAC/LA annual Chamber Music Benefit Concert on Saturday, February 20th at 7 p.m., held at the home of our wonderful muse of Old Town Music, Fritzie Culick and her husband Fred in Altadena.  This not-to-be missed evening will feature both highly polished student quartets from last summer's Chamber Music Workshop at the SMAC/LA summer Suzuki Institute and also the Marina Ensemble, all of whose members are Suzuki teachers and chamber music coaches as well.  There  promises to be exciting music-making, conviviality, and of course, delicious desserts, and all proceeds will go towards financial aid for students attending the 2010 Chamber Music Workshop at the SMAC/LA summer Suzuki Institute. Tickets are only $35, but the reservation deadline is January 20th, so do not delay in contacting Trina Hodgson at thodgson@acellorondo.com for more information.  Ticket reservation and contribution forms will also be available on the SMAC/LA web site, suzukimusiclosangeles.com.

And then don't forget our instrument graduations!  Cello is first on Sunday, March 14th, 3 p.m. at Vallejo Drive Church in Glendale (Rachael Lonergan, chair), violin and viola on Sunday March 21st, 1 and 2:30 p.m. at Zipper Hall in the Colburn School of the Performing Arts (Sherry Cadow, chair), and finally piano on Sunday, April 18th, 1:30 and 3 p.m., at the Wright Auditorium in the Pasadena Library (Barbara Shofler, chair).  More information and graduation instructions are here on the SMAC/LA web site.

This only brings us to the spring--there will be so much more to come in the early summer and later with the SAA Conference in Minneapolis and the SMAC/LA summer Suzuki Institute!  I hope all of you continue to strive to practice and teach at your highest abilities to continue the work of Dr. Suzuki and to bring music into this world which really and truly needs it right now.