SASA Summer Institute

History

The Southcentral Alaska Suzuki Institute was founded in 1984 by Eleanor Braendel and the Eagle River Fine Arts Academy for violin and cello study. In 1989 the institute moved to Anchorage and added piano to the curriculum. In 2004 we underwent a name change to the Suzuki Association of Southcentral Alaska (SASA) to reflect its growing mission to not only sponsor summer institutes but to expand Suzuki Method music education to our community year round.

One of the most visible roles of SASA is to offer annual Suzuki Institutes, which are week-long intensive studies of music performance for Suzuki Method students in a variety of instruments. Master teachers from all over the U.S. are brought to Alaska to give instruction to children 3 years old and up. Local teachers also receive pedagogical training and are given the opportunity to observe master teachers at work.

SASA has been organizing these annual institutes since 1984 and they continue to grow in size and number of offerings. Initially, these institutes were quite small and offered instructions only for strings. In 1988, Suzuki piano was added to the curriculum, and in 2010 we added guitar.

Over the years, the institute has been held at several different venues around the Municipality of Anchorage, including Alaska Pacific University and Abbot Loop Community Church. For the past twelve years, we have utilized middle schools in the Anchorage School District, although cost is becoming a significant issue.


Register online

Scholarship information

What to expect at SASA Summer Institute

The brochure to this year's institute

The 2011 SASA Summer's Institute will be held at Wendler Middle School.