Classical music fans will get a rare chance to catch the entire faculty of the Suzuki School of Music in concert this weekend when the five-member ensemble performs at St. John's Church in Pembroke Saturday night. "This is the first time in three years that we've all been able to come together for a recital,'' teacher and violinist Ms Joan Stewart told The Royal Gazette . "Our schedules just haven't allowed it.'' The recital, which is being held at 7.30 p.m. to raise funds for the non-profit school and serve as an instructional-inspirational example to its 300 or so students, is to incorporate a wide range of classical works in its programme, including pieces by Debussy, Bartok, Chopin and Bach. "We all just sort of picked what we wanted to play,'' explained a second faculty member, teacher and pianist Mrs.

Imogen Davis. Mrs. Davis, who is married to pianist and fellow Suzuki staffer Mr. Steve Davis, has chosen a ballade by Frederic Chopin as her contribution.

"It's such a gorgeous piece,'' Ms Elisabeth Weber, the organist in the group, said of the selection. Added Ms Stewart: "It's going to be so good. It's going to blow the audience away.'' The ballade -- one of the few piano solos of the concert -- will be preceded by the opening selection of the evening, a Bach concerto for violin and oboe that Ms Stewart and oboeist Ms Gaynor Gallant will perform with a small chamber orchestra. The orchestra, which has been specially assembled for the concert, will consist of players from other institutions like the Menuhin Foundation and the Dunbarton School of Music.

Following the Bach and Chopin pieces, the first half of the approximately two-hour recital will be rounded out by the performance of a Bach fugue and William Albright toltentanz by Ms Weber and a Camille Saint-Saens sonata by Ms Gaynor and Mr. Davis. The toltentanz -- or "jig of the feet'' -- will be played by Ms Weber entirely with those appendages. During the second half of the recital, Ms Stewart and Mr. Davis will kick off with a "very impressionistic'' Debussy sonata for violin and piano. "It (the sonata) will definitely be a shared effort in that the piano and the violin are each important to the piece,'' said Ms Stewart, a one-time Suzuki student who went on to get a Master of Music degree from Southern Illinois University. "The piece was performed for a soiree in October and we were really eager to play it for a larger audience.'' Other pieces that the faculty members will play in the second half include a "slow and very beautiful'' folk song by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, the "fun and bombastic'' sixth symphony of French organist Charles Marie Widor and two short piano pieces by Bartok and Debussy. "It (the Bartok piece) is sort of interesting because it involves tone clusters,'' said Mr. Davis, a highly accredited pianist who has also taught in the US and Taiwan. "A tone cluster is the use of the different parts of the hand (to play a piece) -- not just the fingers. Before he wrote the piece, Bartok actually wrote to the American composer who developed the technique, Henry Cowell, to ask for permission to use it.'' Bartok, he added, was a very "honest'' and "forthright'' composer. The recital, which is to end with a performance by the Pembroke Players Quartet of which Ms Stewart is a member, will close with two Dvorzak waltzes and the final movement of the "American'' string quartet. The Pembroke Players include Ms Stewart, violinist Ms Suzanne Dunkerley, cellist Ms Elizabeth Pitman, viola player Ms Kate Ross and alternate violinist Ms Becky Lomas. Ms Lomas will not be performing on Saturday. "We've had pseudo-concerts before, but what we do mostly is play for functions,'' Ms Stewart said of the Players. "We've often talked about doing concerts for an audience and this is our chance.'' Referring to Saturday's recital in particular, she added: "I think the recital will be of great value to everyone involved. For one thing, it helps me as a performer in that it makes me practice and improves my music. Also, this kind of recital can be very good for our students and for those who may not know too much about classical music but want to learn. Personally, I vividly remember going to recitals by my teachers. They really stand out in my mind.'' "It (a recital) puts your teaching in a different light,'' Mr. Davis concurred. "By practicing what you preach, it's easier to inspire a student.

The music will really stay with them.'' A Japanese approach to music instruction, the Suzuki method was designed to encourage self-discipline in youngsters and build their self-esteem by cultivating their musical skills at a very early age. In Bermuda, fund-raising is "integral'' to the Suzuki School's mandate of providing instruction to children from all social and economic backgrounds. Consequently, all of the proceeds from the recital this weekend will be used to provide bursaries to promising local students. "I think we do very well on this Island,'' Ms Stewart said of the school's ability to fulfill its precepts. "We are by no means elitist.'' Tickets for the recital -- which range in price from $8 for senior citizens and students to $15 for adults and $28 for patrons -- can be acquired at Opus 1 on Reid Street or at the door of St. John's. And Ms Weber, who is currently the organist and choir director at St. Anthony's Church in Warwick, promised that the recital will appeal to a wide variety of listeners. "It'll be very accessible,'' she told The Royal Gazette . "People will have a good time.''