A Brief History of the Oregon Suzuki Association

During the summer of 1985 the Washington County Suzuki Piano Teachers Association invited all Suzuki Teachers in the Portland area to join in organizing the Oregon Suzuki Association (OSA). That meeting took place in October of that year and the OSA was born.

For the next four years the OSA held monthly meetings and expanded to include parents in a Parents Organization. The OSA held workshops, took field trips, and held three Children-To-Children Concerts which raised approximately $7,000 for the NW Medical Teams and Oregon Food Share organizations.

The OSA worked to bring the news media to cover these events and successfully had Shirley Hancock, Mike Donahue and Sigrid Clark (former Mayor Bud Clark’s wife) present at these concerts.

This period was fun, but a very busy time for all involved. Eventually, the OSA teachers got increasingly busier in their respective studios and with other responsibilities that it became more and more of a struggle to fulfill the requirements to maintain the organization operational.

The OSA is a recognized Oregon State non-profit organization. A huge thanks to Sharon Golden, former OSA President, for maintaining this status by paying the annual fee of out of her own pocket for the past several years.

The time is right to renew our dedication and support of one another in our quest to fulfill Dr. Suzuki’s dream of helping parents and others to learn to nurture and love all children.

The OSA is being run by co-directors Tamara Theodosis and Laurita Jauregui de Campero, both Portland Suzuki violin teachers. There is much interest from teachers in participating in the OSA. We look forward to bringing Suzuki teachers and Suzuki families together through workshops and events!