NEW PROGRAM OF WORKSHOPS FOR GROUPS B1 and B2

Season 2026-2027

True to the Suzuki philosophy, we will continue to offer group activities to our students. We promote a complete musical education including activities of theory, history, ear culture and exploration of the essential elements of musicality. Students aged 7 to 11 are divided into two groups: B1 (7-9 years old) and B2 (10-11 years old). Since the level of students in this age group is very varied, it has always been difficult for us to meet everyone’s needs. For this reason, a new structure will be offered to our students as of September 2023.

Group B workshops will continue to be part of the Welcome Day program and will be paired with the recitals of the three Suzuki Sundays.

1. Welcome Day: Focus on elements of music history.

2. October Suzuki Sunday: Theory and ear training workshop.

3. Suzuki Sunday in February: Development of musicality.

4. April Suzuki Sunday: Theory and ear training workshop.

For workshops 2 and 4, we will subdivide each of the groups B1 and B2 into 4 sub-groups. Four subjects of different levels will be offered to students who will need to register in advance for the topic that will best meet their learning needs. Each sub-group, limited to a maximum of 6 students, will be led by a clinician accompanied by a volunteer assistant recruited from our group C students (12-18 years old). Group activities allow students to meet each other and work together in a pleasant atmosphere.

  • 1. Staff in Treble clef: understand, write, and sing the notes.

    2. Staff in bass clef: idem

    3. Intervals: understand, recognize, write and sing intervals.

    4. Intervals: more advanced activities

    5. Time signatures, notes and rests values.

    6. Major scales: understand, write, sing.

    7. Minor scales: idem

    8. Basic harmony: chords and inversions, function.

    9. Harmonizing a melody

    10. Introduction to the Blues Scale

    11. Composing with basic harmonic progressions

    12. Ideas for improvisation

These workshops are intended to complement the individual activities of the students and the work done in the context of private lessons, at the discretion of each teacher. Of course, we hope to offer stimulating group activities in a fun atmosphere but above all to make students understand the importance of complete musical training for a better artistic experience.

As always, we appreciate the collaboration of parents in helping us to accompany their children in this great musical adventure which will contribute to the development of several aspects of their personality.

  • Patrick Burns Armstrong (b. 1996) is a pianist, composer, improviser, and music educator from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He holds a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in piano performance from the University of Ottawa, where he studied piano with the acclaimed Canadian pianist David Jalbert. During his time at uOttawa, he also studied double bass with David Currie and studied composition with Kelly-Marie Murphy and Frédéric Lacroix. He has performed in various masterclasses and events at uOttawa, including the Angela Hewitt masterclass in 2017, the Stewart Goodyear masterclass in 2023, and the uOttawa chamber music gala at the NAC Fourth Stage in 2017. In 2017 he was selected to perform at the Chamberfest City Lights concert series at City Hall.

    He has received scholarships and awards from the Kiwanis Festival, the Ottawa Youth Orchestra Academy, the Young String Performers Foundation, the Orford Music Academy, the Domaine Forget Academy, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). In 2016, he was awarded the Nora Hickson Kelly Scholarship for piano performance at the University of Ottawa and in 2017 he was awarded the Jean-Marie Beaudet Scholarship for composition. He won the Thirteen Strings University of Ottawa Composition Competition and the Sir Ernest McMillan Award for Young Composers in 2017, and his music has been performed by prestigious Canadian musical ensembles, including the Thirteen Strings Orchestra and the Bozzini String Quartet. A musician of eclectic taste, he has played and sung in a number of ensembles, including full orchestras, string orchestras, concert bands, male choruses, mixed choruses, and jazz groups. He has also performed at the Music and Beyond Festival, where he premiered John Gordon Armstrong’s solo piano work, Scorpio, in 2012.

    As a music educator, Patrick is currently teaching piano at Rideau Park United Church in Ottawa. He aims to practice a holistic approach to music education, promoting creative openness, mindfulness, and authentic expression. He is also active as a composer and improviser, regularly sharing new works through the Patrick Burns Armstrong Music YouTube channel. He is an advocate of improvisation, seeking to bring it back into the mainstream as a practice in classical music. His primary goal is to bring together the creative philosophies of classical and popular music to introduce a new level of accessibility and emotional directness to classical composition and performance.

  • Pierre Foret holds a Master's Degree (M.Mus.) in music performance from the University of Ottawa and a Baccalauréat en musique (B.Mus.) in performance from the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Gatineau. He was the recipient of several awards, notably Ottawa Chamberfest’s “Rising Stars Senior Scholarship” in 2017. He is principal flute in the Ottawa Pops Orchestra (OPO) and piccoloist with the Orchestre à Vents Non Identifié (OVNI) in Montreal. He teaches music theory and flute at the École de musique de l’Outaouais Inc. (ÉMOI) since 2016.

    Pierre Foret détient une Maîtrise en Musique (M.Mus.) de l’Université d’Ottawa et un baccalauréat en musique (B. Mus.) du Conservatoire de Musique du Québec à Gatineau. Il a été récipiendaire de plusieurs bourses, notamment la « Rising Stars Senior Scholarship » d’Ottawa Chamberfest en 2017. Pierre est première flûte avec l’Orchestre Ottawa Pops (OPO), et il joue le piccolo dans l’ensemble montréalais Orchestre à Vent Non Identifié (OVNI). Il enseigne les matières théoriques et la flûte traversière à l'École de musique de l’Outaouais Inc. depuis 2016.

  • Pianist, harpsichordist, and soprano Annika Fabbi recently completed her Bachelor of Music degree with a concentration in piano performance and a minor in voice at the Univeristy of Ottawa. She studied piano with Dr. Carson Becke and David Jalbert, and voice with Laurence Ewashko. While at uOttawa she was awarded numerous awards and scholarships for both her performance and academic work. She performs regularly as a soloist and collaborator.

    Additionally, she sings in the Ottawa based semi-professional choir the Ewashko Singers, which was awarded a Juno award in 2019.

    Annika is the only three-time winner of the Ross Memorial Piano Award (awarded to the advanced piano student who demonstrates the greatest potential for further piano study) from the Sunderland Lions Music Festival, and has won awards from the North York Music Festival and the Unionville Music Academy Competition. In 2019, Annika earned an ARCT in piano performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music. That same year she was honoured to receive the Marianne Turner Memorial Scholarship from the Durham Philharmonic Choir, and the Uxbridge Music Scholarship.

    Between 2019 and 2022, Annika was a scholarship student at the Orford Summer Music Academy in Québec. While there she studied piano performance with many fantastic pianists, including Jimmy Brière, Sara Davis Buchner, Evelyne Brancart, and Ronan O’Hora. She also studied harpsichord performance with Luc Beausejour. In the summer of 2022, Annika traveled to France to study with Paul Roberts and Martin Sturfält. She is greatly looking forward to returning this summer to study with Charles Owen and Stefan Bojsten.

    In the fall of 2023, Annika will be pursuing a Master of Arts degree in historical musicology at the University of Ottawa. Her research, centered on the manuscript sources of J.S. Bach’s early keyboard works, aims to make Baroque performance practice accessible to the modern pianist.

    She is also planning on continuing her harpsichord and vocal studies. Annika is passionate about shedding light on little known pieces and underrepresented composers, such as the French composer Cécile Chaminade.