Our Board
| Liz Biswas |
| SAO Board Member / Teacher: Violin, Winchester Dr., Waterloo 519-954-6654 email: Liz Biswas@gmail.com Liz Biswas is on the SAO board of directors with the specific task of creating a young/new teachers initiative for the SAO. Liz has a small in-home Suzuki studio in Waterloo, Ontario. Liz has joined colleague Anita Buttemer to teach group classes. Fairly new to the Suzuki teaching world herself, Liz began teacher training with E.C.C at the Northern California Suzuki Institute in Summer 2004. Liz has taken Book 1 and 2 violin training with Elayne Ras and is continually seeking opportunities for teacher training. Liz is currently working towards her Degree in Philosophy with a music minor. |
| Vicki Blechta |
 Board Member: Chair, Teacher: FluteToronto Flute School, St. Clair and Mt. Pleasant Tel: 416-782-5091 vicki@torontofluteschool.com Toronto Flute School Director – received a BMus in Performance from McGill University and a MMus in Performance from the University of Toronto. Taught at the Royal Conservatory of Music for 18 years before establishing the Toronto Flute School in 1998. Her teachers have included Louis Moyse, Jeanne Baxtresser and Andre Jaunet. She has also trained extensively in the Suzuki Method and studied with Toshio Takahashi, founder of the Suzuki Method of Flute. As a founding member of the chamber music ensemble Musica Viva, she has toured in Canada, Great Britain and Europe, given radio and television performances at home and abroad, and released two CD, Entre Nous and In Essence, both to critical acclaim. |
| Mary Burke |
| Board Member: Secretary, Teacher - Piano 905-263-2808 enniskillen.suzuki@gmail.com Old Scugog Rd. Hampton n.e of Oshawa Mary Burke has been teaching Suzuki piano since 2002 in the Clarington region with a studio of approximately 17 students. She has completed Book 1 to 4 training with Gail Lange and plans to continue her teacher training each summer. She has been on the planning committees of the 2003 Oshawa SAO conference and 2007 Cobourg conference. Mary joined the SAO committee in 2007 as Secretary. |
| Anita Buttemer |
| Board Member -- Teacher: Violin, Viola 519-883-0244 anitab@sympatico Beethwood, Erb & Fischer Hallmann, Waterloo M.Mus. in Suzuki Pedagogy 1A-4 Apprenticeship, 1A, 1B, 2, 5-8 overview, supplementary repertoire. Anita has taught at Seneca Suzuki School, North York Suzuki School and at Suzuki String School of Guelph. She is an experienced adjudicator in both non-competitive and competitive music festivals. Anita has taught at numerous workshops and music camps in Southern Ontario. |
| Julian Fisher |
| Board Member / Teacher - Violin / Viola Toronto, Tel: 416-654-8986 Email: info@torontoschoolforstrings.com Julian teaches from Toronto School for Strings and from his home. He is a RCM examiner. Also an adjudicator and workshop clinician. Julian is also a freelance string quartet player. Suzuki Parent. |
| Susan Gagnon |
| Board Member: Vice-Chair, Teacher/Teacher Trainer - Cello -8th Line/UpperMiddle, Oakville, Tel: 905-844-8718 Email: psgagnon@globalserve.net Susan Gagnon holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Western Ontario. She is a member of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Chrysalis piano quartet and string quartet Panache. Ms. Gagnon has been a faculty member of the Royal Conservatory of Music since 1984, and was a major contributor to the Cello Syllabus, 1995 Edition. Susan is a registered teacher/trainer with the Suzuki Association of the Americas. She is also a member of the Canadian Federation of Adjudicators. |
| Linda McConnell |
| Board Member: Treasurer -- Teacher: Piano Kitchener, On. Tel: 519-585-1968 E-mail: lmsuzukipiano@yahoo.ca. Linda has completed all levels (Book 7) of Suzuki Teacher Training. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from McGill University in Quebec and has her Grade 10 piano performance certificate from the Royal Conservatory of Music. She is a Registered Music Teacher. Linda has been teaching Suzuki Piano since 1995. She is currently teaching for the Burlington Suzuki Association and she is on the faculty at the Guelph School of Music. Committed to the Suzuki philosophy, Linda continues her ongoing personal and professional development and believes wholeheartedly in parents as partners. |
| Marjorie Ogden |
| Board Member: Executive Assistant 282 Waverly St. N., Oshawa, L1J 5V9 Tel: (905) 721-8974 E-mail: mlojjo@hotmail.com |