Wayzata Elementary String Program Oral History Project: Interview with Donna Bill

Titles: Wayzata Elementary String Program Oral History Project: Interview with Donna Bill (Supplied title)

Description: BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Donna Bill holds a degree in violin performance from Baylor University and has studied summers at Meadowmount in Westport, New York. Early in her career she taught elementary string music using traditional pedagogy - first in the Sioux Falls Public Schools for three years and afterwards in the Madison (Wisconsin) Public Schools. In addition, she is a well-experienced private studio teacher and it was in this capacity that she became interested in the Suzuki method, which led her to attend the American Suzuki Institute at Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and also the Ithaca College Suzuki Institute. When Donna applied for employment in Wayzata Public Schools she was unaware that a modified Suzuki method was used in the elementary string program, but found the program an excellent match for her experience and expertise. As a teacher within the system from 1996 through 2001 she worked closely with Barbara Lamb and Sandra Haines and later with Kim Iverson, Lynne Weber, Lissa Thomas and Clark Sheldon, teaching violin and coordinating the demands of an extremely large and popular elementary string program. In the fall of 2002 Donna joined the faculty at The Blake School, where she is building an all-school string offering. After hours, she teaches violin at Dolce Studio and serves as concertmaster of the Minnetonka Symphony. Donna and her husband have restored an older home where they live with their American bull dog, Jack, their Old English bull dog, Maggie, and enjoy life in the metropolitan Twin Cities. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Donna Bill discusses her own background and music activity and then describes the structure of the Wayzata elementary string program and the many advantages of using the modified Suzuki curriculum and repertoire in the public school in a situation where the groups are very large. She talks about the significance of peer influence in the lessons, respect for individual learning styles, ear training, note reading, insistence upon excellent technique and emphasis on student responsibility for preparing the lesson. Additionally she discusses the importance to the child of early music education.

Dates

• 01/15/2001 (Creation)

Creation

• interviewer: Weber, Lynne
• interviewee: Bill, Donna

Identifiers

• Library Call Number: OH 109
• Accession Number: AV2007.12.3

Holding Type: Oral History - Interview

Project

• Oral History - Project, MHS Collection, project: 'Wayzata Elementary String Program Oral History Project' <OH 109>

Quantity: 1.5 hours sound cassette 18 pages transcript

Format

• Content Category: sound recordings
• Content Category: text

Measurements

• 00:52:18 running time

Subjects

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