Bronx violin teacher named a national music award fi nalist
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BY KYLE VUILLE
The founder of a Bronx
school string orchestra has
been named one of ten fi nalists
for the 2020 Music Educator
Award presented by
the Recording Academy and
Grammy Museum.
Dr. Kokoe Tanaka-Suwan,
of Cos Cob, CT, has been become
the only fi nalist nationwide
from New York for her
contributions to the Bronx
Global Learning Institute for
Girls Charter School.
BGLIG (Big League) opened
in the south Bronx back in
2008 with Tanaka-Suwan as
one of the founding faculty
members.
“What really drew me to
this school was they (administration)
said they wanted a
string music program,” Tanaka
Suwan said.
Every student at BGLIG
from kindergarten to eigth
grade learns to play the violin
with lessons taught on a daily
basis.
“The concept is, not only,
are they learning to play a
complex instrument like the
violin, but they are really
given all the tools to become
well-rounded individuals,”
Dr. Kokoe Tanaka-Suwan, second from eight, stands with three of her
former students, (Left to right) Leslie Gutama, Madison Rodriguez and
Victoria Flores, and the two current music teachers, Jessica McWilliams
and Jennifer Hosten inside the auditorium at the Bronx Global Learning
Institute for Girls. Dr. Tanaka-Suwan has been nominated for a national
music educator award by the Recording Academy and Grammy Museum
for her work at BGLIG. Photo by Kyle Vuille/Schneps Media
Tanaka-Suwan said. “The
mission of the school is to create
future women leaders.”
Tanaka-Suwan, started
playing the violin at age 4, attended
the New England Conservatory
of Music in Boston
for her undergraduate and received
her Graduate/Doctrine
at Columbia University.
Including her time at
BGLIG, Tanaka-Suwan has
taught in the borough for 16
years, 11 of those at BGLIG.
“It’s rare to have a teacher
or classroom that I would see
them every single day every
single year,” Tanaka-Suwan
said. “So I really was able
to create close relationships
with students and their families
and I think that’s important
to work collaboratively
and looking beyond that, I’m
now writing recommendation
letters and they are going off
to college.”
Statistically, BGLIG sits
in the poorest congressional
district in the nation. Ninety
eight percent of BGLIG’s
students qualify for federal
free/reduced lunch, which
puts them under the poverty
line.
The administration, faculty
and staff at BGLIG all
fi nd it their mission to open
student’s minds to future opportunities
and possibilities.
“We want them to raise
their sights on what’s possible,”
Tanaka-Suwan said.
Three of Tanaka-Suwan’s
former students can attest to
‘Ms. Kokoe’s’ charisma and
drive to indulge into the world
of music.
Victoria Flores, 11, who
was a student of Tanaka-Suwan’s,
fondly remembered her
teacher using ‘violins’ made of
cardboard to learn proper posture
when she was just a kindergartener.
Another former student
of Tanaka-Suwan’s, Madison
Rodriguez,11, said ‘Ms. Kokoe’
was the kind of teacher she
could talk to and used scholarships
to weekend music
schools as an incentive to keep
practicing.
Tanaka-Suwan not only
left a distinct impression on
her students, but also former
colleagues like music teacher,
Jessica McWilliams.
“The biggest takeaway
from her was her positivity
and resilience,” McWilliams
said. “She always brings that
positivity and it makes a
world’s difference.”
McWilliams emphasized
the appreciation the students,
the staff and the community
have for the string orchestra
program.
“The most special thing
she did was create the strings
program,” McWilliams said.
“The students, the staff and
the community all feel it.”