Louise Behrend (October 3, 1916 – August 3, 2011) was an American violinist and academic. She was dedicated to the

Suzuki method The Suzuki method is a mid-20th-century music curriculum and teaching method created by Japanese violinist and pedagogue Shinichi Suzuki. The method claims to create a reinforcing environment for learning music for young learners. Backgroun ...

of teaching, and founded the Suzuki-based School for Strings.

Life

Louise Behrend was born in 1916 in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

; her father was a doctor and amateur pianist, and her mother was a mathematics teacher."Louise Behrend 1916-2011"
''The Juilliad Journal'', September 2011. Retrieved September 17, 2020."Louise Behrend: The Art of Teaching"
''The Juilliad Journal'', May–August 2010. Retrieved September 18, 2020. She studied at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

with

Louis Persinger Louis Persinger (11 February 1887, Rochester, Illinois31 December 1966, New York, New York) was an American violinist, pianist and professor of violin. Persinger had early lessons in Colorado, appearing in public by the age of 12. His main studie ...

, and on gaining a graduate diploma in 1943 she was invited to join the school's Pre-College Violin Music and Chamber Music faculties."US violinist and Suzuki teacher Louise Behrend dies"
''

The Strad ''The Strad'' is a UK-based monthly classical music magazine about string instrumentsprincipally the violin, viola, cello, and double bassfor amateur and professional musicians. Founded in 1889, the magazine provides information, photographs and ...

'', August 14, 2011. Retrieved September 17, 2020.

Shinichi Suzuki was a Japanese violinist, philosopher, composer, and educator and the founder of the international Suzuki method of music education and developed a philosophy for educating people of all ages and abilities. An influential pedagogue in music ed ...

, creator of the

of violin teaching, visited the Juilliard School in 1964, with some of his students, and subsequently Behrend went to Japan, spending two weeks in Matsumoto to see Suzuki's summer classes. In 1970 she started a Suzuki course in Manhattan. This expanded and in 1973, when it had more than 50 students, it was named The School for Strings, with Behrend as director; it still exists today. School for Strings
Retrieved September 18, 2020. She was editor of the ''American Suzuki Journal'' from 1984 to 1988, and wrote ''The Suzuki Approach'' (1988). She was on the faculties of the Henry Street Music School Settlement,

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

. In 1996 the Suzuki Association of the Americas gave her a Distinguished Service Award; in 2003 she received the

Betty Allen Betty Allen (March 17, 1927 – June 22, 2009) was an American operatic mezzo-soprano who had an active international singing career during the 1950s through the 1970s. In the latter part of her career her voice acquired a contralto-like darkenin ...

Award from the

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) is an American organization dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music in New York City and around the world. It is the largest organization of its kind in the country for chamber m ...

; in 2007 she received the Paul Rolland Lifetime Achievement Award from the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

. "Our Founder"
School for Strings. Retrieved September 17, 2020. Behrend remained on the faculty of the Juilliard School until retirement in 2009. She died in 2011, aged 94.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Behrend, Louise 1916 births 2011 deaths Academics from Washington, D.C. Juilliard School alumni Juilliard School faculty New York University faculty Manhattan School of Music faculty American women classical violinists 20th-century American classical violinists 21st-century American women 20th-century American women academics