Seifert Piano Studio

When I first began teaching the Suzuki method, I was confronted with parents who had decided that this method would result in their children becoming musical prodigies. These were very pushy parents and the children were not happy! Luckily, I attended a class for Suzuki parents led by Beverly Tucker Fest, a well-known teacher-trainer, who read a story taken from Zorba the Greek:

"I remember one morning when I discovered a cocoon in the bark of a tree, just as the as the butterfly was making a hole in its case and preparing to come out. I waited a while, but it was too long appearing and I was impatient. I bent over it and breathed on it to warm it. I warmed it as quickly as I could and the miracle began to happen before my eyes, faster than life. The case opened, the butterfly started slowlin crawling out and I shall never forget my horror when I saw how its wings were folded back and crumpled; the wretched butterfly tried with its whole trembling body to unfold them. Bending over it, I tried to help it with my breath. In vain. It needed to be a gradual process in the sun. Now it was too late. My breath had forced the butterfly to appear, all crumpled, before its time. It struggled desperately and, a few seconds later, died in the palm of my hand. "That lively body is, I do believe, the greatest weight I have on my conscience. For I realize today that it is a mortal sin to violate the great laws of nature. We should not hurry, we should not be impatient, but we should confidently obey the eternal rhythm."

The Seifert Piano Studio is filled with all kinds of butterflies that serve as reminders to the parents that all the students have potential to become beautiful musicians, but they must be allowed to develop in their own time, not mine or the parent's and that every student is different, just like the butterflies.