Dr. Carolyn Barrett

Dr. Carolyn M. Barrett, director of the Suzuki music Studio in Reston, Virginia, U.S.A., and the author of The Magic of Matsumoto: The Suzuki Method of Education, also founded Suzuki method studios in Lagos, Nigeria and Seoul, Korea. The Seoul studio trained sixty students weekly, and instructed British, Korean, and American educators in using the Suzuki approach in teaching stringed instruments, especially violin. The Seoul studio was directly supervised by Dr. Suzuki; students sent tapes to him for graduation certification. Dr. Barrett traveled three times to Matsumoto, Japan to study with Dr. Shinichi Suzuki.

Dr. Barrett gives group and individual instruction in violin, viola, cello, and piano using both traditional and Suzuki educational strategies. She has thirty years teaching experience. The Reston studio presents recitals and gives performances in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Students have soloed with the Washington Symphony, concertized at Presidents Park and participated in concerts at Wolf Trap, Constitution Hall, and the Kennedy Center.

As a performer, Dr. Barrett has been a choral and instrumental conductor, violinist, pianist, and violist. She was a violinist with the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, Twenty-First Century, a piano trio; Trio allegro, Pro Musica Lagos and the Yongsan Chamber Music Society. She is a piano accompanist for Suzuki recitals and accompanied performances and classes at the Cassarno Ballet Studios in Portland and Lake Oswego, Oregon.

Dr. Barrett has a Ph. D. in English and was a professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia teaching advanced English Composition, English and American Literature.

In addition to a full schedule of music students in her Reston studio, Dr. Barrett is also currently performing as violist with the Loudoun Symphony Orchestra and as cellist with the Loudoun Symphony String Workshop. She is past president of the Suzuki Association of the Greater Washington Area (SAGWA) and served as Director of the 1998 Suzuki Centennial Celebration at Constitution Hall for SAGWA. She also served as coordinator of the 129 Celebration Concerts for the Suzuki Association of the Americas. Dr. Barrett has performed at the White House and the Executive Mansion with the Washington Symphony Orchestra.

For a formal copy of Dr. Barrett's full resume, click here.

Complete text for "Reinforcement in Suzuki Education" a white paper written by Dr. Carolyn Barrett and presented to the Association for Behavior Analysis.