European Suzuki Association - Teachers Newsletter Vol 38 2018

23 T he typical Icelandic Suzuki teacher works at one or more music schools, frequently works also as a performing musician and sometimes adds other items to his or her work portfolio such as being a tour guide for tourists! All of this in the rather typical Icelandic tradi- tion of diversification in work life. There is one thing however, that unites the Icelandic Suzuki teacher with his or her Suzuki and non- Suzuki colleagues: They all work to a similar rate of pay and under sim- ilar conditions in the music schools, conditions which are negotiated centrally by their unions (The Asso- ciation of Music School Teachers and/or the Icelandic Musicians’ Un- ion) in a wage agreement with the Association of Local Councils in Ice- land, whose members finance most of the local music schools. This means that there is no differ- ence between being a Suzuki teach- er and non-Suzuki teacher, when it comes to terms in the labour mar- ket. Private teaching exists but is not common. Suzuki teaching in Iceland is cur- rently flourishing, with teachers on most Suzuki instruments. After the pioneers laid the ground work in the 1980s, teacher training be- came one of the regular activities of the Icelandic Suzuki Associa- tion. The association has to date, pro- vided teachers with opportunities to do Suzuki teacher training on many instruments and at present Iceland has resident teacher train- ers on violin, viola and piano. Co- operation with visiting teacher trainers has created opportunities for training on other instruments and Icelandic teachers also travel abroad to receive their training. There are two Suzuki music schools, who receive public sup- port, operating in the capital Rey- kjavík: The Reykjavík Suzuki School of Music (founded in 1988) and the Allegro Suzuki Music School (founded in 1998). Suzuki departments, offering Suzuki teach- ing on a number of instruments, operate in many other music schools, the largest of these being the SigursveinnD. Kristinsson’s School of Music in Reykjavík and the Akureyri Music School, in Akureyri on the north cost. All of these schools receive operating grants from the local municipalities and are either owned by local councils or privately owned. The Suzuki Pi- ano School in Reykjavík (founded 2014) is a privately-run school and does not receive any public grants. At the opening concert of the ESA’s Teachers Conference in April 2018, the Icelandic Suzuki community gave a beautiful concert in the re- cently built and architecturally stun- ning Harpa Concert Hall in Rey- kjavík. It was showcase of a diverse and thriving Suzuki community that is dedicated to bringing good Suzuki teaching to Icelandic children. Spotlight on Iceland contd /3 The Integrated Suzuki Teacher—Icelandic Suzuki Teaching Today Haukur F. Hannesson