Greenville ISD Suzuki Strings

The Greenville Suzuki Strings program owes its existence to the support of our community. It’s not common to find a program such as ours in any public school system, let alone in a relatively small town. However, it’s not surprising given Greenville’s history of music advocacy and appreciation. The champions in implementing this program, the Greenville Suzuki Strings Association (GSSA) and the Greenville Independent School District (GISD), are prime examples.

The GSSA and GISD join other non-profit organizations whose purpose is to enrich our lives through music. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra in Greenville Series, Kenneth Threadgill Concert Series, and Greenville Entertainment Series all bring live music to our community throughout the year. All of these organizations rely on the patronage of our neighbors and community businesses. The Greenville Independent School District and the Greenville Suzuki Strings Association make one of the most dynamic collaborations in the Suzuki world today. No other town Greenville’s size can boast of a Suzuki program offered completely free to its students in addition to a yearly Spring Workshop. A model of success!

The Greenville Suzuki Strings Association was formed in 1997, dedicating itself to encouraging and supporting a Suzuki strings program for the children and adults of our community. Suzuki instruction made its debut in Greenville, Texas in the Fall of 2002 with violin lessons for the four year old Hunt County Head Start students. Today, the program has both a violin teacher and a cello instructor who split their time between five campuses: Bowie Elementary, Lamar Elementary, the Sixth Grade Center, Greenville Middle School and Greenville High School.

GSSA is focused primarily on raising funds for instruments for the GISD students and sponsoring the annual Spring Suzuki Workshop. The GSSA has been able to purchase instruments for all of the children taking cello, viola and violin lessons in GISD at this time. The need to acquire instruments continues as our students grow into larger instruments and new students join the program.