As the school year draws to a close, so does some of the extra-curricular instruction in town; but not without a
Local piano teacher Dawn Stahl’s students will have one final opportunity to perform before the summer when they will play a recital June 8 at Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton.
“They’re coming in for the big recital there, which is really quite a prestigious place to be doing a recital,” she said. “They have a big Steinway Grand Piano.”
Steinway pianos are widely considered to be some of the best in the world, making this a unique opportunity for many of her students.
It is not likely that any of them will be out of place playing on such a remarkable instrument, however, as most of her students have already earned their fair share of accolades and seem to really enjoy performing.
Five of her seven students earned awards at the Barrhead Rotary Music Festival in March, including Kieran Murphy who took the top award at the festival and earned hundreds of dollars worth of scholarships.
“I find with these students, that the idea of performance is very attractive to them. This (the Barrhead festival) is the highlight of the year for most of them. They really like to get up and be adjudicated,” she said.
Stahl has been teaching piano in Westlock since 1978. She moved to Edmonton about seven years ago, but still comes out to Westlock one day per week to teach lessons.
“I still had many families who had younger siblings and whatnot, so I continued to come out to Westlock to teach,” she said.
Murphy has been taking lessons with her since he was seven years old, he said, and he influence has played a major role in developing his own passion for music.
“She’s had a big part of that. She’s been teaching me since I was seven, and always picks great songs for me,” he said. “She’s been very supportive and plays a bit part in my passion for music.”
Like any good teacher, Stahl encourages her students to be self-motivated and find their own passion for what they’re doing.
“Music’s my life. I love music,” she said. “I like to pass that on to young people and see if they can also find some enjoyment in music. I’m seeing that with these students. The more they play, the more skills they acquire and the more fun it is.”
Passing along this passion seems to have been successful, at least with one of her students.
“I never practiced very much for a lot of years, but the last couple years I really started liking it and practicing more,” Murphy said, adding that he still could probably practice more than he does.
His passion for music comes in no small part from Stahl’s instruction and her knack for picking songs he would enjoy.
“I enjoyed a lot of them, and in the last couple year I’ve really developed a passion for playing piano,” he said.
So poignant is his passion for music, in fact, that he intends to pursue music in post-secondary school — inasmuch as he can while focusing on his volleyball career.
He intends to attend Augustane University in the fall, where he will minor in music.
Stahl said that for her part, she is looking to retire soon and won’t be taking on too many more students in Westlock, but will continue to teach the students she has for at least one more year.
If past performance is any measure of the future, her students will once again succeed admirably at any of their recitals.
