My influential teacher is Colin Clarke, a music educator who works in the GTA.
I met Colin through MusicFest Canada, where he works as an adjudicator. He ran the workshop segment of my very first trip to MusicFest, and gave me a glimpse into a completely different style of teaching/rehearsing as he did. The biggest difference I noticed with his teaching style is his attitude. I noticed that it is very clear that he loves teaching music, and that he loves music in general. His attitude was incredibly and infectiously positive. It spread to the whole room, and in no time, everyone started loving to make music as much as he did. Despite only seeing him for an hour, he and his attitude would stick with me until I saw him next.
This next time would be many years later at the Interprovincial Music Camp (IMC), where he runs one of the ensembles. Despite the fact that I was playing in a different ensemble, I still managed to see Colin Clarke and got a chance to get reacquainted with him. At this point in my life, I was looking for a new ensemble to play in outside of school, and Colin came to my rescue. He told me about the many ensembles that he conducts, such as the Toronto Youth Wind Ensemble (TYWO) and the Hamilton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (HPYO). I realized that I lived not too far away from HPYO, so I auditioned the next month and got it. From then on, I had weekly rehearsals with Colin for two years, up until I moved to London in September.
Colin started his career by starting his own ensemble, TYWO when he was only 17. In high school, he only played percussion, but wanted to give conducting and band leading a try with TYWO. At the same time, he began going to the University of Toronto for performance on percussion, but developed tendonitis in his second year and sadly had to stop playing. Around the same time, one of the universities conductors passed away and he was asked to take over his position to conduct one of the ensembles, because of his experience in TYWO. He would then transfer from UofT to Western to finish his undergrad, switching from performance to education. He began taking courses in education, conducting, and composition and he eventually graduated from Western as a music educator.
From then on, he would continue to conduct TYWO, but he also picked up more jobs, such as MusicFest, IMC, HPYO, and the Halton Mississauga Youth Orchestra. He is even currently completing his graduate degree at Wilfrid Laurier University.
His pedagogy revolves around one simple saying, that he got from a colleague of his. “Every time you do a rehearsal, it’s an opportunity for you to inspire”. As someone who has rehearsed with Colin for several years, I can confidently say that Colin has done an excellent job of demonstrating this philosophy, and his inspiration is a big part of why I also chose to go into music for university.
I met Colin through MusicFest Canada, where he works as an adjudicator. He ran the workshop segment of my very first trip to MusicFest, and gave me a glimpse into a completely different style of teaching/rehearsing as he did. The biggest difference I noticed with his teaching style is his attitude. I noticed that it is very clear that he loves teaching music, and that he loves music in general. His attitude was incredibly and infectiously positive. It spread to the whole room, and in no time, everyone started loving to make music as much as he did. Despite only seeing him for an hour, he and his attitude would stick with me until I saw him next.
This next time would be many years later at the Interprovincial Music Camp (IMC), where he runs one of the ensembles. Despite the fact that I was playing in a different ensemble, I still managed to see Colin Clarke and got a chance to get reacquainted with him. At this point in my life, I was looking for a new ensemble to play in outside of school, and Colin came to my rescue. He told me about the many ensembles that he conducts, such as the Toronto Youth Wind Ensemble (TYWO) and the Hamilton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (HPYO). I realized that I lived not too far away from HPYO, so I auditioned the next month and got it. From then on, I had weekly rehearsals with Colin for two years, up until I moved to London in September.
Colin started his career by starting his own ensemble, TYWO when he was only 17. In high school, he only played percussion, but wanted to give conducting and band leading a try with TYWO. At the same time, he began going to the University of Toronto for performance on percussion, but developed tendonitis in his second year and sadly had to stop playing. Around the same time, one of the universities conductors passed away and he was asked to take over his position to conduct one of the ensembles, because of his experience in TYWO. He would then transfer from UofT to Western to finish his undergrad, switching from performance to education. He began taking courses in education, conducting, and composition and he eventually graduated from Western as a music educator.
From then on, he would continue to conduct TYWO, but he also picked up more jobs, such as MusicFest, IMC, HPYO, and the Halton Mississauga Youth Orchestra. He is even currently completing his graduate degree at Wilfrid Laurier University.
His pedagogy revolves around one simple saying, that he got from a colleague of his. “Every time you do a rehearsal, it’s an opportunity for you to inspire”. As someone who has rehearsed with Colin for several years, I can confidently say that Colin has done an excellent job of demonstrating this philosophy, and his inspiration is a big part of why I also chose to go into music for university.