Wayzata Elementary String Program Oral History Project: Interview with Mark Bjork

Titles: Wayzata Elementary String Program Oral History Project: Interview with Mark Bjork (Supplied title)

Description: BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Mark Bjork, associate professor of violin and pedagogy at the University of Minnesota School of Music, is a graduate of Indiana University where he studied violin under the renowned pedagogue Josef Gingold, and chamber music with David Dawson, Harry Farbman, and Janos Starker. Deeply committed to the study and performance of chamber music, he performed more than forty works with the LaSalle Trio in an annual concert series as well as in radio, TV, and tour performances. Mr. Bjork is recognized internationally as a leader in the field of Suzuki Talent Education. In 1967 he started one of the first Suzuki programs in the United States at the MacPhail Center For The Arts, which was part of the University of Minnesota at the time. At about the same time he accepted a part-time position in the Wayzata Public Schools, where there was expressed interested in starting an elementary string program based upon the Suzuki model. The Wayzata program grew and developed substantially during Mr. Bjork's tenure in that district. In the early seventies he studied with Shinichi Suzuki at the Talent Education Institute in Matsumoto and during years of active involvement within the Suzuki Association of the Americas worked very closely with both Dr. and Mrs. Suzuki. Workshops, master classes and clinics, often related to Suzuki Talent Education, have taken Mr. Bjork throughout the U.S., Canada, South America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, and Japan. His former students include concertmasters, chamber music performers, and teachers. SUBJECTS DISCUSSED: Mark Bjork describes the structure of the Wayzata elementary string program at the time of his arrival and its growth and transformation during his years. He talks about the Suzuki approach used within the public elementary schools in Wayzata, his own strong connection with Dr. Suzuki and the Talent Education Institute at Matsumoto, his work within the Suzuki Association of the Americas and teacher training pedagogy now offered at the University of Minnesota and a few other places in the United States. He includes some very colorful stories about his association with the Suzukis and ends by describing his vision of the best music education for the very young child. Mr. Bjork evidences considerable energy within the interview.

Dates

• 06/07/2001 (Creation)

Creation

• interviewer: Weber, Lynne
• interviewee: Bjork, Mark

Identifiers

• Library Call Number: OH 109
• Accession Number: AV2007.12.4

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 23 pages transcript

Format

• Content Category: sound recordings
• Content Category: text

Measurements

• 00:58:18 running time

Subjects

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