This is the first in a series of articles profiling Coast musicians, teachers, and performing arts instructors by Gibsons guitarist/ songwriter/music teacher Bonar. As the backup man for The Howling Cats (Emily and Ginny Cardinall and Rose Cardinall-Redfern) he realized that these young musicians were enriched by a spectrum of teachers – and access to this kind of talented mentorship is a special part of the Coast lifestyle.
A unique synergy is at work among the network of performing arts teachers on Canada’s Sunshine Coast. The result: a hothouse capable of nurturing the amazingly talented young people who live here. Our next generation of young musicians, dancers and actors are reaping the benefits of accessing the cooperative network of outstanding educators – and their parents are discovering that the Sunshine Coast is a great place to raise kids if you value a performing arts education.
Recently, I visited with a cross-section of the Coast’s performing arts teachers in a variety of disciplines to capture their thoughts on our “learning community.” The re(My apologies to all the wonderful teachers not included in this round-up, for there are many more with whom I would have loved to visit; unfortunately there are limits to my time and also limits to the column inches I have to fill.)
Home grown in BC, Steve K (a.k.a. Steve Karagianis) has been playing guitar professionally since the ripe old age of 18 using his ‘chops’ to pay his way through University. Steve graduated with distinction as a classical guitar performance major from the UVic School of Music in 1995 where “[he] set a new standard in guitar excellence.”
Steve Karagianis
Since then Steve has toured and performed internationally. Steve's sound has evolved into the intricate acoustic music heard on his first full length album ‘Headspace’ (2003) and he recently celebrated the launch of his sophomore release ‘Down To Earth’ with a performance at the Heritage Playhouse along with collaborator, violinist Serena Eades. The new CD is available at local stores here on the Coast and from the “music” link on his web site: www.stevekmusic.com
With his teaching schedule fully-booked during the school year, Steve notes that “I do have lots of students with their fingers on other instruments – in particular a number of Coast String Fiddlers - who also study guitar with me and so there is something of a connection to other disciplines through my students.” He agrees that “there is a remarkable abundance of professional musicians working and teaching on the Sunshine Coast,” but adds that “as a teacher, I feel I am mostly working in isolation – although to some extent I am connected somewhat through Serena (Eades).” Steve envisions the antidote to that isolation: “I think we would all benefit from the establishment of a community performing arts centre or ‘Place des Arts’.” Reach Steve at www.stevekmusic.com to enquire about openings for lessons.
Serena Eades
Born and raised in Roberts Creek, Serena Eades began playing the violin very early, studying the Suzuki Method with Katie Angermeyer. “It was very different back then,” Serena says. “There were only a dozen or so fiddle students on the Coast and at first Katie Angermeyer was the only teacher. Really that changed when Michelle (Bruce) started up the Coast String Fiddlers (www.coaststringfiddlers.com) in the 1990’s. And today there is certainly a broad community of good teachers. Students have the opportunity to study in almost any style – classical, folk, Celtic, bluegrass.” Serena notes “a few gaps in music instruction” includes a lack of a local cello teacher, now that instructor Nicholas Simons is serving as MLA. The gaps are filled by commuting teachers from Vancouver. “There are lots of professional non-classical musicians,” Serena notes, “but not so many professional classical musicians.”
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Serena is performing on May 4 at a local house concert along with Erynn Marshall (violin) and guitarists Fabrizio Alberico and Eric Norman (see Calendar of Events – Langdale to Lund for details). Serena dons her ‘impresario’ hat, organizing a classical performance featuring Janna Sailor, violin and pianist Sergei Saratovsky, both postgraduate students of music at UBC, at the Arts Centre, Sechelt, on May 12. This performance is sponsored by the Sunshine Coast Jazz and Entertainment Society (www.coastjazz.com).
Erynn Marshall
Serena is taking new students and can be reached at www.serenaeades.ca. “I was living in Toronto when I received this letter from Michelle Bruce,” reports Erynn Marshall, noting that her friend Michelle wrote that as she was moving to Quesnel, it would be a great time for Erynn to move to the Coast to teach. “And so I packed up my fiddles and here I am! Now, how about that for a story. Here is Michelle who reaches out to someone halfway across the country to try to convince them to come out here and teach so that her students will be well looked after. That is dedication.”
“I understand that commitment,”Erynn says, “There was a time when I was studying fiddle in Victoria as a kid and my parents didn’t have the money for lessons so my teacher taught me for a whole year without being paid. And that is just one incident – there have been many others where I have received so much generosity in so many ways. I am just so grateful for all of the support I have had and I really relate to that. Now that I am a teacher I feel just the same way: I would do anything for my students.”
Originally from Victoria, Erynn moved to Toronto for graduate studies and received an MA in ethno-musicology from York University in 2003. Her book Music in the Air Somewhere: The Shifting Borders of West Virginia’s Fiddle and Song Traditions was published in 2006 - the culmination of years of fieldwork with West Virginia singers and fiddlers from 75 to 95 years old. Erynn was able to learn elements of traditional Appalachian fiddling directly from Melvin Wine, Lester McCumbers, Leland Hall, Art Stamper and others.
“My field work since 1998 was mainly spent studying this music from teachers in the oral tradition. For example, someone like Melvin Wine learned a particular traditional song because it was taught to him in the oral tradition many years ago. He in turn taught that same piece to me, as he was taught. And that process connects me in a very important way to him and to the entire lineage of teachers before him. I, in turn, am trying to teach my students here on the Coast some of those songs in the exact same way they were taught to me because in that way I am extending that tradition. So now I have students who are at one remove from someone like Melvin Wine or Leland Hall – a lineage of traditional music that goes back hundreds of years. I think that is pretty cool,” Erynn explains.
Although only on the Coast since summer 2006, Erynn says, “I feel very connected to the performing arts community here. Maybe because of Michelle and The Coast String Fiddlers, I feel very much a part of the lineage of teachers who have built a performing arts community here – although I am also aware that those are some mighty big boots to fill!” Erryn’s new CD Meet Me In The Music is “dropping” (as we say in the music biz) on May 13 and Erynn will launch her CD release tour in Toronto, following with dates in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, Maryland and New York.
When she is not out there thrilling her adoring fans, Erynn is all ours, right here on the Coast and you or your kids can study with her. Reach her through her web site at: www.hickoryjack.com
About the author: Bonar is a guitarist, songwriter and music teacher who has made Gibsons his home for the past five years. He has performed in numerous settings with a wide variety of acts across Canada since the mid 1970’s and is currently working on production of a DVD of his original method for learning music called ‘The Six Rings.’ Bonar teaches guitar and bass. Find out more at www.myspace.com/bonar_songs or give him a call at 604-886-4893.
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