BIO
Patricia D’Ercole is Director Emerita of the Aber Suzuki Center at the UW-Stevens Point where
she taught violin to children and Suzuki pedagogy courses. She completed a master’s degree
with an emphasis in Suzuki with Margery Aber and, in 1988, studied in Japan with Dr. Suzuki.
In 2007, she spent a semester at UT-Austin as a visiting scholar and Dr. Robert Duke to learn
innovative ways to use technology in giving feedback to teachers.
She has been a clinician in 22 states in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, Finland, Estonia, Peru,
Chile and Taiwan. Pat has written numerous articles for the American Suzuki Journal, was chair
of the Suzuki Association (SAA) Board of Directors and served as a member of the SAA
committees to develop the Every Child Can! course and the Suzuki Principles in Action course.
She was the founder and first president of the Suzuki Association of Wisconsin and has been on
the planning committee for the International Research Symposium on Talent Education since its
inception in 1991 and has served as its coordinator since 1995. Through her leadership, “The
American Suzuki Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point: The Suzuki Method in
Action,” a collection of videos which chronicles the two weeks of Dr. Suzuki’s teaching at the
American Suzuki Institute in Stevens Point in 1976, is now preserved and posted on the web for
free viewing by all. In 2002, she was the recipient of the American Suzuki Institute’s Suzuki
Chair Award and in 2008 became a Distinguished Instructional Specialist at UWSP. In 2020 she
was honored by WI-ASTA as the Studio Teacher of the Year. In September 2010, Pat began the
Suzuki Strings Mentoring Program, an online long-term practicum to assist and support Suzuki
string teachers in their quest to become a better teacher within the environment of their usual
employment.
Prior to Stevens Point, Ms. D’Ercole was the founder and director of the Flambeauland Suzuki
Talent Education Program, Ladysmith, Wisconsin and also taught instrumental music for two
years in the Maywood, Illinois public schools. Pat currently teaches part-time at the Aber Suzuki
Center. She is active as a teacher trainer at workshops, institutes and the mentoring program.
Research Interest
- Early Childhood Education
- Music education and parents
Community Involvement
- American Suzuki Foundation Board Member
- Central Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra Board Member
Professional Memberships
- Suzuki Association of the Americas
- Suzuki Association of Wisconsin
- American String Teachers’ Association
- National Association of Music Educators
- International Research Symposium on Talent Education
Presentations/Publications
- Meaningfulness Among Suzuki Students and Parents. Frontiers in Education, 6:648776.Hendricks, K., Einarson, K. M., Mitchell, N., Guerriero, E. M., & D’ Ercole, P. (2021).
- Insights Learned from the Mentoring Course, SAA Leadership Retreat, Deer Creek, OH
- Studying Parents’ Perceptions of Suzuki Parent Education, SAA Leadership Retreat, Deer Creek, OH
- Violin Vibrato Exercises as Handed Down by Margery Aber, American Suzuki Institute
- International Research Symposium on Talent Education S 14th Symposium Presenter
- Resources for the Suzuki Researcher (American Suzuki Journal, 47(1).
Where love is deep, much can be accomplished.
S. Suzuki