Celebrating a century of music

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This article was published 03/06/2019 (2379 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba Registered Music Teachers’ Association (MRMTA) turns 100 this year.

To celebrate a century of making music, the MRMTA is hosting the national biennial conference from July 3 to 6 at the historic Fort Garry Hotel. The conference theme is a Century of Sound Connections and will kick off with a gala concert featuring local and international artists, partially sponsored by the Winnipeg Foundation.

Adjudicated voice and piano competitions are also part of the conference program. Former Manitobans on the adjudicator panel are pianist and composer Douglas Finch, collaborative pianist, chamber musician and teacher Dr. Scott Meek, and accompanist, vocal coach, composer and conductor Jon Greer. Other jurors are Dr. Christine Vanderkooy, Adrienne Pieczonka, and Russell Braun. Manitoba students competing in the competition are: Caron Whitlaw-Hiebert’s piano student Fan-En Chiang and Tracy Dahl’s vocal student Elena Howard Scott. Michelle Sawatzky Koop, a phenomenal athlete and musician will present the keynote address to conference attendees. Chocolatier Constance Popp is designing chocolates with the Century of Sound Connections conference logo, which will be distributed at the Gala concert July 3.

In celebration of the MRMTA’s 100th birthday musicologist Dr. Muriel Smith was commissioned to write a book, and A Century of Sound Connections: The Manitoba Registered Music Teachers’ Association 1919-2019 traces the 100-year history where she investigates the impact its members and activities have had on theirs pupils and on Manitoba and Canadian culture. President of the Canadian Music Teacher Association Tiffany A. Wilson and president of the MRMTA Leanne Hiebert are really excited to celebrate the organization’s 100 years and are looking forward to what the future holds. They invite the public to come out and celebrate.

Fort Garry residents Hiebert and Wilson are seasoned music teachers with many years of experience in both teaching and performance, as well as being active in local and national organizations. These are some of the things they told me when I sat down with them recently to talk music.

Wilson is both a voice and piano teacher with 40 students. She teaches in her home studio, for the Preparatory Studies Programme at the Faculty of Music at University of Manitoba, and also at St. John’s-Ravenscourt. Wilson started teaching piano when she was 12.

Wilson has a Bachelor of Music in Voice and a Minor in Theatre from the University of Manitoba. She also has an A.M.M., Associate of Music in Piano Performance from Western Board, which is now Conservatory Canada.

“Some of the highlights of being a music teacher is seeing your students on Broadway or London’s West End in a show or winning an international competition. One of my students won the annual televised Castrocaro vocal competition in Italy. Seeing them go on to professional careers is real affirmation of professional accomplishment for a private music teacher,” Wilson said.

Hiebert started playing piano when she was eight and teaching piano when she was studying music at Brandon University. There she taught at a music store and played piano for ballet classes. She completed her Bachelor of Music in piano performance at Brandon University. She also has a Royal Conservatory of Music degree in performance and pedagogy.

Hiebert laughs, “I didn’t really know whether I wanted to teach.” In fact, she hadn’t even planned on going into music at all. “I always thought I was more of an athlete than a musician. I didn’t come from a musical background.” In Grade 12, her piano teacher Lydia Wiebe encouraged her to go into music and she has enjoyed it ever since. “It’s nice to teach kids one on one. You cater to their needs. Music is a good connector. You can connect to people through sport and music.”

Hiebert has 20 students besides her collaborative work with choirs and soloists.

“You get to know all types of families and all types of kids,” Hiebert said. “The majority do not go on to win competitions. I just want them to have music for their life.

“I remember one student saying to me he was so excited about piano lessons at the beginning and then a few months he came to his lesson and he had figured something out: I get it. Piano is all homework, he said. It’s fun but then I have homework every day.”

The benefits of teaching music comes with challenges as well. Getting kids to focus is one of them. And homework the other. Wilson laughs as she recounts, “I remember having one student with ADHD. He was all over, opening the cupboards and standing on the piano bench, but when he got to the piano, it was so blow your mind. As soon as you could get him to focus it was incredible.

“When I have singing students record their piece so they can practice, their phone is dinging with messages. Trying to get them to focus is the biggest challenge.”

About music lessons Wilson says, “It’s the best money a parent can spend. It’s not just about learning to read notes or about playing an instrument, it’s also about learning a set of lifelong skills, discipline, and hard work.”

Visit centuryofsound2019.com for more information. Many of the events are open to the public, with tickets available for purchase on the website.

Helen Lepp Friesen is a community correspondent for Fort Garry. You can contact her at helenfriesen@hotmail.com