Special Events

Piano Recital Fund Raiser
Averill Baker gave a piano recital for the Newfoundland Registered Music Teachers' Association on May 6, 2005 in the D. F. Cook Recital Hall. Mrs Baker played to a sold out house. This was an immense success musically with great comments by all musicians who attended (these included many of our finest).

Averill was the 2nd place finisher at the Van Cliburn Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs and also adjudicated our Scholarship Recital Competition on May 7, 2005.

CFMTA National Convention Peak Performance
Calgary, July 3 – 9, 2005

Rosza Foundation Voice Competition
In addition, Peter Barrett from Corner Brook was the featured Newfoundland participant in the Rosza Foundation Voice Competition – a special vocal competition for this convention in Calgary. He received third place with $2000.00 and the Mountain View Festival of Song and Chamber Music Recital Award.

Jane Steele made an Honorary Member of the NLRMTA - ( text by Lorne G. Buick )

The dinner held on Jan. 4th to honour Jane Steele was well planned, well attended and well appreciated; in short, a resounding success in every sense. The Bowring Park Bungalow was a warm and congenial setting for the event; the dinner itself was excellent; and MC Chad Stride did a great job of keeping the proceedings moving along, including reading the "telegrams" (of course now mostly emails) from former students who couldn't be there in person. Of those who were there in person to offer reminiscences, Ronalda Hutton had a few particularly notable anecdotes. Chad Stride - MC

(l-r) Jonathan, Jane, Tommy

The evening included two outstanding (and very different) performances by Jane's former students, Thomas Yee and Jonathan Monro (on a piano generously provided by Reid Music). Tommy Yee's choice was Chopin, and it seemed an ideal setting to hear it - among friends and colleagues as in the Paris salons where Chopin himself played, as opposed to a concert hall. Jonathan performed two of his own songs (playing and singing himself), in fine Broadway style; the Tango was especially noteworthy. Jonathan prefaced his performance with some stories of his time studying with Jane-it seems patience was certainly one of her virtues as

a teacher, while concentration was not Jonathan's forte! To hear such fine and contrasted performances shows how Jane managed to nurture and encourage very different personalities within her studio.

The highlight of the evening was of course the reunited Giocoso Singers, conducted by the young "Jane Steele" herself-Chad Stride, in authentic "period costume". The quality of the performance certainly speaks to the excellent training all these singers received as young students,

not to mention the difficulty added by the distracting conductor! I'm not sure how they managed to sing with straight faces (most of the time…). Being from away and therefore never having had the chance to see the original choir with Jane Steele conducting, I cannot vouch for the authenticity of all the gestures and mannerisms that Chad incorporated into his performance, but judging from the laughter and looks of recognition around the room he must have hit several nails on the head.

All in all the evening showed a tremendous spirit of respect and affection for this outstanding member of the St. John's musical community. It also demonstrated how close the community itself is, with almost a sense of family coming together around the room. It was truly a treat to be part of the gathering. Congratulations and thanks to all the organizers of the event, particularly committee members Judy Snedden (far left), Joan Woodrow (2nd from left), Barbara Clarke (far right) and Margie Murray Reed (2nd from right).