In 1974, in the San Francisco Bay Area, the first California Suzuki organization was established. Teachers who were meeting to take training sessions from Sister Therese Cecile Murphy started to organize area-wide activities. It was following one of these activities, a play-in, that the Suzuki Association of Northern California (SANC) was formed.

In 1977 in Los Angeles, Elizabeth and Harlow Mills envisioned an organization to coordinate Suzuki activities statewide. Harlow named it the Suzuki Music Association of California and served as its first President. After discussion with SANC, SMAC became the official statewide organization.

Among the Los Angeles teachers who helped build this early Suzuki community was Idell Low (1925–2016), a pioneer of the Suzuki violin method in Southern California, a registered Suzuki Association of the Americas Teacher Trainer, and a long-time leader of the Suzuki Music Program of Los Angeles group program. Her teaching shaped the musical lives of generations of students and teachers, and SMAC is grateful for her lasting contribution to Suzuki education in California.

The advantages of geographic organization were immediately clear. When teachers were within driving distance of one another, communication and coordination flourished. Also, by organizing regionally across California, branches could collaborate more effectively and maximize resources statewide.

As more teachers were attracted to the Suzuki method, more branches formed and the level of training grew broader. There has been, and continues to be, a concerted statewide effort to provide teacher training workshops and ongoing professional development, with a shared commitment to continuous learning among our members.

The branch model spread naturally, and today SMAC's network includes seven branches, one chapter, and two institutes representing hundreds of teachers throughout California.