JOAN ROONEY, PIONEER OF THE SAA, HAS PASSED AWAY. Joan Rooney, a Suzuki Method pioneer and Teacher Trainer for the Suzuki Association of the Americas, passed away on May 9, 2025, at the age of 97. In 1971, Joan began teaching at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. Shortly thereafter, she learned of the Suzuki Method. She pursued direct studies with Dr. Suzuki at various conferences and institutes in 1976, 1978, 1980 and 1981. In 1974, she established the Joan Rooney School of Violin in Port Washington, WI and became one of the first practitioners of the Suzuki Method of violin in the state. Joan’s students were known for their high level of technique and beautiful tone. “The quality of playing is what counts.” Joan Rooney School of Violin students performed most notably for President Ronald Reagan in October of 1985 and Itzhak Perlman in 1983. Her students also played for Vice-President George H.W. Bush, Governor Dreyfus of Wisconsin and performed with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra for 10 concerts (1980) and Sheboygan Symphony (1985). Joan shared her love of the violin with students throughout the country while on the summer faculty of the American Suzuki Institute in Wisconsin and the Ottawa Suzuki Institute in Kansas. Joan played a 1785 Nicolo Gagliano violin and continued to teach students in the home her parent’s built in 1930 until she was 92. Joan’s legacy continues on in her family and the hundreds of students she taught over 49 years. Her tone lives in the many students who play or teach violin professionally and the many more whose violin lessons were an integral part their education. Throughout her life Joan was sustained by her Catholic faith and the joy and beauty she brought into the world through her music and her teaching of youth. During a visit with a former student a month before her passing, Joan shared, “You know, [teaching] was never a job. It was always a passion.” Here is beautiful tribute to Joan, broadcast by Dan O'Donnell of Milwaukee WISN radio. (fb)

Announcing a new addition to the ISA Online Archive: The Early Years of the Talent Education News in America!! Prior to the founding of the Suzuki Association of the Americas in 1972, and indeed the International Suzuki Association in 1983, an organization titled Talent Education - USA Inc. was founded by Dr. Howard M. Van Sickle, Professor of Music at the former Mankato State University in Minnesota. Van Sickle published the first newsletter in the United States devoted to the Suzuki Method. Enjoy reading these articles and seeing photos from the earliest days of the Suzuki movement in North America. Use the following link to access the Newsletters and pictures from the ISA Online Archive : https://internationalsuzuki.org/docs/Talent_Education_News_Mankato_State.pdf Shinichi Suzuki teaching children to play the violin at Mankato State College, 1967-07-12 (fb)