(212)
942-2743 (home)
MozartforChildren@Earthlink.net
DEBBIE SUROWICZ
Biography:
Debbie Surowicz is the
founder / director of Mozart for Children, an educational music program now
enjoying its tenth successful year. Mozart for Children is designed to
introduce young children, ages 2 to 8, to the great tradition of classical
music in an atmosphere of spontaneity and fun.
Ms. Surowicz is an
accomplished classically-trained singer. She attended the well-known High
School of Music and Art in New York City and Queens College; she continued her
musical studies and vocal training at the Mannes
College of Music and Carnegie Hall Studios. She has studied with Boris Goldovsky and Kenneth Cooper and has sung professionally
around the New York area.
Ms. Surowicz was a founding
member of the Institute for Creative Development in Antwerp, Belgium and the
Studio for Performance in New York. Both of these innovative theater companies
focused on the use of mime, movement, and music in their original productions.
In 1989, Ms. Surowicz and
her family relocated to Paris, where she again successfully launched Mozart for
Children (Les enfants de Mozart). Through movement,
puppets, and the evocative power of music, language barriers were completely
transcended. Drawing upon her teaching experiences, Ms. Surowicz has compiled
her educational techniques into a study guide available to all music teachers
interested in a Mozart for Children program.
Debbie Surowicz has been
artist-in-residence in the Lawrence School system and the Special Kids
Intervention program and has given early childhood music workshops to many
groups in and around New York. Private courses are also offered in her studio
in New York City. During the summer, the Mozart for Children program moves to
Lenox, Massachusetts, the home of the Tanglewood
music festival.
Mozart for Children has
been featured on NBC and CBS News as well as reviewed in the New York Times,
New York Family, and Parents Magazine. NBC News said of Mozart for Children:
"...youngsters are getting a wonderful head start in appreciating beauty
and genius," and Parentguide magazine said of
Debbie Surowicz, "[her] creative approach to helping youngsters explore
the world of classical music is in a class by itself."
Debbie Surowicz's
creative and unique approach to teaching music has produced outstanding results
with youngsters of varied cultures and backgrounds (including children from
non-English speaking families) who benefit by being exposed to English and
music simultaneously. She remains committed to nurturing the next generation of
concert goers by introducing them to the joys of classical music.