Strings and things: Area music students plan to travel to Asia for the Singapore International Spring Conference

Thirty local residents will be celebrating Thanksgiving this year far from home. Thirteen students, three teachers and 14 of their family members will board a plane and visit Singapore and Japan for a two-week stay.

The students are pupils of Hays Hendricks (no relation to the author of this article), a Suzuki violin instructor based at the Southeast Missouri Music Academy. They will be playing Dec. 3 through 6 at the Singapore International Spring Conference, among musical peers from all over the world. The group is made up of elementary, middle and high school students.

The conference has several objectives. The main goal is to advance and promote interests in string instruments among students, parents and teachers by bringing in experts to show their knowledge and skills. The conference provides an intensely musical environment where musicians young and old can "eat, drink and breathe music," according to the conference Web site.

Before the conference, they will stop in Japan for a three-day history lesson. One of the attractions they plan on seeing is Dr. Shinichi Suzuki's grave. Suzuki, who created and pioneered a form of teaching music called the Suzuki method, died at his home in Japan in 1998 at the age of 99. The visiting students plan on playing their instruments around his tombstone.

The Suzuki method is a lifelong experience, Hendricks said. The process begins at age 3, and gradually increases in lesson time and size of instruments. The purpose of the program is not to train these students to become Julliard-bound concert performers; it's to give them a creative outlet, something that they can always depend on to let out stress and to have some fun.

The trip is expensive, and several families are holding small fundraisers to help foot the bill.

Abbie Fieser, 16, from Jackson High School, planned a trivia night at Immaculate Conception School in Jackson. Her goal is to raise $1,500 toward the nearly $4,000 she needs. This is her first trip out of the country and she's excited about it. She's been playing for five years, and she said this trip will be a "great opportunity" for her.

Hendricks, who is married to Steve Hendricks, the director of choral activities at Southeast Missouri State University, has been teaching the Suzuki method for 12 years. The program in Cape Girardeau is seven years old.

Considering that the program is still so young, Hendricks said she is honored that they get this opportunity. She is taking her husband and three children along on the trip. She said she expects that this is going to be the trip of a lifetime.

"How many times do you get to travel halfway around the world?" she said. "Not many."

Emily Hendricks is a freelancer for the Southeast Missourian.