I'm from London Ontario Canada and it's a city that has a lot of great music
going on fantastic choirs excellent music
education through the universities and I started out you know inspired by from my
family my dad was a church organist and so I have happy memories of sitting by
his side at the organ bench my little feet dangling away turning pages being
so worried that okay I've got to follow exactly and if I ever got lost dad would
mm-hmm and I could turn the page properly for him I grew up in a
household where there was always music happening mom was singing in the kitchen
dad was playing either on the piano upstairs or in the harpsichord in the
basement that he and mom built I know I was the only kid on the block who had a
harpsichord in her basement but you know my earliest memories composing aren't
anything structured I'd sing along to the hum of my mom's washing machine and
make up little melodies and so I really began you know experimenting with music
making things up before I had any music training as a young young girl I I sang
in choirs and if people ask me all the time what was what was the best
educational experience you had as a composer honestly singing in choirs I
had conductors put music in my hands that was full of integrity that was
meaningful that was carefully selected and I can't think of a better music
education as a choral composer than singing in choir it was very fortunate
to have the same voice teacher choral director for many years
as I started taking voice lessons when I was a kid and saying in an excellent
children's choir the amable organization of London Ontario and I sang under
Jennifer Moyer who was a tremendous conductor tremendous mentor who not only
cared about the musical education of her students but also cared about us as as
whole people I went to the University of Western Ontario to study theory and
Composition she was there and I got to continue my voice studies with Jen and
singing her her women's choirs I sang in her her excellent choir like her East at
the University of Western Ontario but then got the opportunity to sing in sort
of a smaller kind of chamber women's choir called Project sing and it was a
group of friends that sang a lot of my my early compositions a lot of my early
arrangements and to be surrounded by a group of women who are all my age who
were all sort of exploring what if they wanted to do with their careers with
their their musical lives it was such a tremendous community that's been a theme
throughout my musical upbringing my musical education and then I hope what I
do now is a composer is a sense of community a sense of choral music
bringing us together sharing an experience bringing our voices together
which is your body as instrument right it's such a personal thing and it can be
such a connecting thing so I hope that's that's what I can do now from the other
side of the curtain has the composer bring music into two choirs that that
helps boost community and boosts togetherness I thought I wanted to be a
performer for many years I spent my high school years as a song
essentially singer/songwriter in the cafe's of my hometown at my high school
and I had you know music teachers in high school that always thought I was
going to go on to be a performer but I hate university and I realized that what
I was writing had more depth to it than I could sing I always wanted to be able
to sing in harmony with myself Goodin and so you know having an
education in choral music meant that that was just the natural place to go
was writing for multiple voices multiple layers multiple textures and so I went
from this sort of time in my life life as a as a singer songwriter performer to
really being a composer and a creator and I I don't think I set out to be a
composer I think it just happened after university I actually was a teacher for
many years my career started out as an elementary school music educator and I
loved that I loved working with the kids but always you know I was composing and
so for a time my my career was more education heavy rather than than
composition but as I got more and more commissions I realized wow I think I can
actually be a composer more and so it transitioned from education to full-time
composition my taught elementary school nearly full time for about five years
and to this day I still AM a substitute teacher by choice and people say a
substitute teacher by choice I say yeah I can't I can't leave the classroom
fully my time as a music educator those five years in Sparta Ontario small town
were some of the happiest years of my life some of the most intense years of
my life but I still keep in touch with a lot of those kids they're in their 20s
now I loved them I loved them so dearly and so that's why I can't leave the
classroom now but having a history as an educator and as a history of working
with kids and and seeing what excites them seeing technically what is
appropriate and and wanting to as a teacher myself CELAC
scores that have integrity put stuff in those kids hands that inspires them I
hope now that that as a composer when I'm writing music for younger
sinners that there's a there's a bit in my music of what I was looking for as an
educator
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