By 
Hilary Hahn (little know fact: She also holds honorary doctorates from Middlebury College—where she spent four summers in the total-immersion German, French, and Japanese language programs) will be the new soloist on the official Suzuki recordings for violins book 1-3 according to a recent article on violinist.com. A press release is available on the suzukiassociation.org.
The recordings will be available this spring on http://www.smartmusic.com, an online practice platform that requires Google Chrome. I have started testing smartmusic.com and think that it might be a tool that some students may enjoy using to structure their practice. Practicing in front of a screen is not an activity that seems at the outset to fit for young children, but I am nearly 50 and a bit square. I will try to be open-minded and solicit feedback from my students and parents to see if this tool may be right for them! A tool that helps creates healthy and consistent practice habits is worth considering.
Emily Sunderman 