Doris Koppelman
(1926-2011)

I can’t imagine that I’d ever have become a Suzuki teacher had I not responded to an intriguing ad in the Union Tribune which advertised for Suzuki Method™ teacher trainee candidates. When I called to find out more, I was invited to attend an “Every Child Can” workshop down at Point Loma University, and this is when I met and saw Doris Koppelman in action. She was amazing! I knew that I’d found my next teacher and couldn’t wait to start my training with her.

Doris was actually one of the first music teachers in America to apply Shin’ichi Suzuki’s teachings to piano instruction. Doris had begun her own piano studies at an early age in New York and had attended the prestigious Bronx High School of Music and Art, so she was a fine pianist already. After graduating from Hunter College, she taught and performed while rearing her young children. By the time I met Doris, she was in her mid-eighties and had been teaching Suzuki for almost 30 years and playing piano for over 70 years…so I knew I’d discovered a goldmine!

After mastering the method herself back in the 80’s, Doris became a Teacher Trainer. She traveled the world teaching other teachers the unique method of using the “Every Child Can” approach with piano students. I received my first two books of training in her home and observed her teach once a week over the period of almost two years. When I was finally brave enough to give it a shot, she was there to answer my questions and give me words of encouragement as I figured out how to start children out by ear before teaching them to read. For my Book Three training, I traveled to the Colorado Suzuki Institute where Doris was teaching and had an even bigger eye-opening experience, since there was also the opportunity to observe teachers and students at the higher levels. One thing was consistent: all the children could play by memory and created beautiful tone. We mentor and tutor our students just as our trainers mentored and tutored us.

Sadly, we lost Doris in 2011, so I studied Book Four with Fay Adams and Book Five with Aubrey Faith-Slaker. But Doris left a permanent and positive impression on those who had met or studied with her. The small group of teachers I studied with at Doris’s home has continued to work together on annual events through the local Suzuki chapter, SMAC-SD. With each student we have participate in a Graduation Recital, we give our thanks to Doris!