Suzuki organ method

Gunilla has a degree in organ and has also worked as a church musician for 23 years in the church of Sweden. She is also the founder of the Suzuki organ method.

In 1998 she started to develop the Suzuki method for the organ together with Lars Hagström, and since 2002 she is a teacher trainer in the Suzuki organ method. She has educated around 60 organists in different universities in Sweden and USA, to become Suzuki organ pedagogues. She is also a lecturer in the Suzuki organ method, and in the subjects "expression in music and contact with the audience". As Suzuki lecturer she has worked in Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Turin, Copenhagen, Oslo, Cambridge, Sidney, Strasbourg, Brussels and in many towns all around Sweden. Gunilla is constantly working to spread the method for the organ all over the world. 

In January 2015 Gunilla published a Web Suzuki Organ Teacher Training Education, so organists around the world easily could be able to educate to Suzuki organ pedagogues.

In 2019 she and her husband Kjell Hedenström made a documentary about 21 years of development of the Suzuki organ method, and how it has been spreed al over the world.

In the spring of 2020, she continuously began to have interactive web lessons in real time in both organ and piano.

Kulturskola

From 2006 - 2009  she worked as principal for a music school in Askersund, where she also started a culture house with the subjects music, dance, theatre, art and yoga, to continue between 2010 - 2012 as the head of culture administration in Askersund.

Gunilla is very interested in all culture fields, and has directed children’s musicals for 15 years, believing that the combination of drama, music and dancing helps children to develop.

In 2017, she got a job in Perstorp municipality, with the task of starting and developing a cultural school, and has until now developed it to have a range of teaching in 11 instruments and dance, drama, musical, film and art. As a principal of the culture school, she has also started teaching the piano and the organ by the Suzuki method.

Church musician and pianist

From 1989 - 2006, Gunilla worked as churchmusician in the Church of Sweden in Glanshammar, in parallel with work as a pianist and as a Suzuki teacher, first in the piano, and later in the organ. As a pianist, she worked professionally with solo concerts and as an orchestra musician until 1998, when the work of developing the Suzuki organ method began.

In December 2012 she started to work as a church musician in the Swedish church in Kumla to develop cooperation between the church and other culture practitioners in the society.

In the summer of 2013 she moved to the south of Sweden to Lärkvallen country house, where she has had Suzuki teacher training courses.

In the south of Sweden she first worked 4 years as an organist, before she got the job as cultural school director.

Relaxed Playing Technique - RPT

Gunilla has worked for many years developing technique exercises, and also worked a lot with tonalization and musical expression. From the spring 2020 she started with RPT – educations, (Relaxed playing technique), where she is publishing videos on her YouTube channel. There she shows examples from her long experience as a musician and pedagogue. She shows practical exercises where you learn to use a minimum of energy while playing, and how to gain speed in the technique in total relaxation.

Gunilla also has continuous interactive web lessons in real time in both the organ and the piano. To read more about interactive web lessons, click here.