2021 OCTA Recipients

Margaret Armstrong began studying piano at age 9, and by her early teens was primary pianist at Salvation Army Church where her parents were ministers, as well as organist for the Antigua Girl’s High School at the Anglican Cathedral in Antigua, West Indies. To further her education, she immigrated to Canada. At Carleton University and University of Ottawa she studied all orchestral instruments and majored in piano, earning both undergraduate and graduate degrees. She taught music in the Lanark County and Ottawa-Carleton District School Boards, and her students consistently won top honours and scholarships. She also served as Adjunct Professor at the University of Ottawa, training other teachers in music and the arts. In 1982, Margaret became the Founding Coordinator of Arts Canterbury, OBE's High School for the Arts (the ‘Fame’ school). She was then appointed as Board Consultant for the Arts, bestowing the gifts of artistic experience on as many students as possible. Margaret always maintained a private music studio with students of all ages. She is a long-standing member of ORMTA and the CFMTA. Margaret also has extensive experience in performance, not only as a musician, but also as an actress, singer, and dancer in ballet, modern, jazz and tap styles. She danced at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa among other venues. For many years she was a keyboard player in the acclaimed Ottawa Neon Dance Band. A true ‘Renaissance Woman’, Margaret is also a skilled sailor, airplane pilot (Private VFR), ham radio operator (VE3WIR), fashion designer, master gardener, and dog agility handler (with two national champion terriers, including one that attained the highest Agility Award of ‘Lifetime Achievement’). To say that Margaret is an over-achiever would be an understatement! Margaret retired from the OBE in 2001, after a 32-year career. In 2004, she and her husband Ted moved to the Thousand Islands region. In 2005, with the support of principal and staff, she and Ted launched the ‘Music in the Schools’ Program at the local Thousand Islands Elementary School, which offers in-school daytime private music instruction. Soon afterwards, by popular request, the program expanded to five other local schools, from K-12. Now, a new generation of students in this area is benefiting from her lifetime of knowledge and experience. To date, Margaret, Ted, the new terrier puppies, and the Black Rapids Music Studio are all surviving the pandemic. As Margaret says: “We're not done yet!”

Margaret Armstrong is an inspiration to all of our teachers, with her boundless energy and enthusiasm for teaching and supporting her students, as well as her many other interests. Having been an active ORMTA member for nearly 40 years, with students who consistently win top honours and scholarships in festivals and competitions, Margaret is long overdue to receive this award. The Kingston branch teachers are pleased to finally recognize Margaret’s contributions to the musical life of the communities east of Kingston.

Paula has been a proud member of ORMTA for over 40 years. She came from a very musical family and began her piano lessons at 11 years of age, under the tutelage of Marie Devereux, a longtime ORMTA member in Port Perry, Ontario. Very keen to learn, Paula always knew she wanted to be a piano teacher. She completed her

Associate Teachers degree with Mrs. Devereux, and Theory requirements with JR Robertson. Becoming a student teacher at 16 years of age clinched the decision for Paula to strive to become a full time piano teacher some day. She joined the ORMTA as soon as her degree was completed, and her class quickly grew to 5 days a week. She enjoyed being both teacher, and proud wife and Mom to her 2 boys. A highlight was having the privilege of guiding both of her boys to the Grade 10 level in piano. Paula has maintained an Executive position over most of her 40 years of membership. She held various positions before taking the Treasurer position for 8 years. Paula became President of the Oshawa & District Branch in 2010, for a 3 year term. She enjoyed encouraging members to come out to events and become more active in their Branch. It was very rewarding and fulfilling for Paula to serve her Branch in this capacity. She has then remained on the Executive as Past President as others have moved away following their President terms. Paula was also the Piano Chair for the Sunderland Lions Music Festival for 8 years, selecting pieces and classes to be adjudicated. Paula has always had a strong love and passion for the piano. She enjoys sharing this passion will all of the pupils she has taught over the decades. Numerous students have won trophies and scholarships in various competitions. Many students have gone on to enjoy careers in the music field which has been most rewarding for Paula. The necessity to teach via the zoom platform this past year was challenging and yet fulfilling, confirming her dedication to her pupils. Paula cherishes the many friendships she has garnered over the years through her ORMTA membership. She is very honoured and grateful to have been nominated for this special OCTA award. “Teaching is my happy place”, Paula.

The Oshawa and District branch of the ORMTA is pleased to nominate Paula Copithorn for an OCTA award. Paula has served her community well for 40 plus years as an Independent music teacher; approximately 30 of those years she has served on executive of our branch. She has willingly served in several executive positions, including treasurer and president, and always given conscientious and consistent service regardless of her role. Her students have demonstrated sound technical skills as well as imaginative interpretations. Her sense of humour and realistic thinking extend beyond our branch into the larger community in which she lives. Paula's community involvement included participation with the Sunderland Music Festival in music selection as well as encouraging her students to become involved in competition. She also was a member of a local choir and played for many local social events. As a branch, we are honoured and fortunate to have a dedicated teacher and music supporter, like Paula Copithorn, within our group.

Music has been central in the life of Mildred Freeman Rieder. She started learning violin at school at 9 years old. Her teacher, Maria Riedstra of Elmira, continued to teach her privately and encouraged her all the way to university. Mrs. Riedstra gave her violin students of her own when she was only 13. She got her RCM Grade 10 violin at 15 years old and played in the Kitchener-Waterloo (KW) Youth Orchestra all through high school. She played in the KW Symphony Orchestra at 17 years old, including playing in a Mahler symphony for the opening of the Kitchener Centre in the Square. Mrs. Riedstra also taught Mildred piano so that she had the required Grade 6 level to study music at university. At The University of Western Ontario, Mildred got three degrees: Honours Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Education, and Masters of Music Theory. She spent 6 months in the Congo (then Zaire), learning about another culture and practising French. She spent a year in Elkhart, Indiana, as a student at the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. While there she took organ and voice lessons and sang in the choir. After her studies, she spent several years teaching in classrooms. As well as supply teaching for secondary schools, she taught French, Grade 5, and Grade 6. Mildred has played in several orchestras, including KW Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra London, KW Community Orchestra as concertmistress, KW Chamber Orchestra, and pickup orchestras to play with choirs. Since 2007, Mildred has been building up a private music teaching practice. After starting to teach at Long and McQuade’s Music Store in Waterloo, she also began increasing the number of students she teaches at her home in Elmira, resulting in full-time work. As well as violin students, she has a number of piano students, and some viola, harmony, and guitar students. As well as a member of ORMTA, she is a member of Elmira Music Teachers’ Association and part of the liaison committee for the Elmira Kiwanis Music Festival. She is a member of the worship committee at her church, where she invites guest speakers, plays violin, leads a choir for special occasions, and helps pianists get set up to play music on Zoom for church services. New music, new relationships, several instruments, other languages, books about learning: Mildred’s life has been full of learning, including learning through teaching.

The Kitchener Waterloo branch of ORMTA nominates Mildred Freeman Rieder for this years OCTA award. Mildred’s community spirit and teachings are awesome . Throughout her instructional career she has passed on her passion and appreciation of music teaching violin, viola, piano, ukelele, guitar, and theory to hundreds of students. She supports our musical community with a sense of humour, integrity and a smile. She gives her time to ORMTA, the Elmira Music Teachers Association, our local orchestras and her worship team at church. The support she demonstrates within all these associations and affiliations is fabulous. We are thrilled to honour our colleague, leader and dear friend Mildred.

Born in K-W and raised in Woodstock, Nancy was immersed in a musical environment. She passed along this appreciation to her own family which has expanded with the addition of three perfect grandchildren. In Niagara-on-the-Lake, she had the good fortune to study with Jacqueline Dingman and received the Teacher’s ARCT diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music in 1992. She taught piano before altering course and focused on the teaching of theoretical subjects in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Nancy has also held the positions of treasurer and president for the Niagara Falls Branch and currently serves as Provincial treasurer of the Ontario Registered Music Teacher’s Association.

Teachers from across the Province know Nancy Dale as their friendly, competent Provincial Treasurer. Locally, we know her as an invaluable music history and theory resource, financial guru, fearless filler of complex online applications , queen of organization, level-headed leader, website updater, a great listener, the first to volunteer for committees big or small...and the LAST to want credit where credit is due. She can solve any problem with the speed of a firebolt- even faster if there are sweet treats or bacon involved. Her dedication to ORMTA and to our musical community is steadfast, and she adds poise, intelligence and humour to our Branch. For decades, Nancy taught senior level theories and music history to the students of many of our teachers in addition to maintaining her own studio. She has been involved in too many musical activities and committees to mention, and is always a calming voice of reason in tricky situations. The Niagara Falls Branch is THRILLED to nominate Nancy Dale for the ORMTA Contribution to Teaching Award!

Nikki Loney is a professional singer, voice teacher, resource creator, music publisher, and podcaster. Her passion is for young beginner vocalists and for over 30 years, she has created a safe, educational, and fun voice studio for young singers. She believes that holding space for a music student, whether they are 6 years old or an adult, is an honour and a privilege and that her job is to help them make peace with their voice and find joy with music so that when they leave their lesson, that they have a smile on their face and feel good about themselves. Nikki started singing at a very young age along with her father, who played guitar, and they performed together for many years. Growing up, she had a lot of recording and studio experience (jingles, background vocals, session work) which helped her develop her love of performing. Nikki studied Classical voice privately and then went on to study Vocal Jazz at Humber College. It was a wonderful genre that allowed her to express her creativity and discover her unique take on a song through improvisation. In her early days of teaching, Nikki realized the lack of resources for young singers. She researched and created the FULL VOICE Workbooks with her friend and colleague, Mimi Adams. The FULL VOICE Workbooks are now in their 3rd Edition, and FULL VOICE resources are now used in teaching studios, choirs, and classrooms worldwide. She also partners with children's composers from around the world to bring single song downloads that are educational, fun, and age-appropriate with backing tracks and lesson plans. You can find Nikki and her fun, educational resources for young singers at: www.thefullvoice.com

Nikki Loney served as a dedicated member of the executive for many years in various roles helping with our branch website, social media and publicity. Nikki built and maintained the branch’s first own website, including teacher, accompanist and events listings. She was first to set up online registrations used by our teachers for recitals, First Class Honours Lists, workshops and AGMs. She is recognized for her great passion and commitment to teaching and to her ORMTA branch, and for her wonderful contributions to music education via her Full Voice Publications. Nikki has been an ORMTA member for 14 years based in Hamilton, and will, sadly for us, be relocating to Nova Scotia later this year.

Chunson Park is humbled and honoured to receive this award. She has been teaching piano for almost four decades and is one of the most sought-after teachers in Ottawa. Her education includes the University of British Columbia, the Juilliard School, and Boston University. Dr. Park was blessed to have great mentors, such as Dr. Robert Silverman, Mrs. Ellen Silverman, and Mr. Hung-Kuan Chen. While taking care of her two children and writing her final dissertation at the same time, she developed tendinitis in her hands, veering her career to teaching. Ever since, her focus has been on proper postures and ergonomic ways of playing the piano. After her graduate work, Park taught at Inje University in Gimhae, South Korea and Carleton University in Ottawa. But it was her genuine love and care for children that revealed a particular passion for teaching young talents. The main motivation for her teaching has always been to nurture each child to strive for their highest potential. In 2018, she suffered from laryngitis for three months due to overuse and permanent damage of her vocal cords. Now, she is especially keen on keeping a healthy and balanced lifestyle. Her present and former students have won prizes in many competitions, such as the Canadian Music Competition, Kiwanis, Ottawa Piano Festivals, ORMTA and Steinway competitions. Their achievements have been recognized with numerous RCM gold and silver medals, trophies and scholarships from festivals and competitions. Park is the recipient of the 2019 RCM Teacher of Distinction and the 2016, 2017 Steinway Top Music Teacher Awards. In 2019, her own students gave her a personal trophy of dedication and devotion. She is also the organist and pianist at the Epiphany Anglican Church. Chunson has two grown-up children and lives with her husband in Kanata.

The Ottawa Region Branch is delighted to have Dr. Chunson Park as its OCTA recipient for 2021. Dr. Park embodies everything an ORMTA member should be. She is a brilliant and dedicated teacher whose students thrive and excel under her guidance. It is not a stretch to say that her efforts have contributed significantly to the high quality of performance among Ottawa piano students. In addition to her teaching, Dr. Park is also a vibrant member of the musical community in Ottawa. Her skills have been recognized by other organizations including The Royal Conservatory of Music and Steinway, and she is a member of the prestigious Musical Arts Club of Ottawa. The Ottawa Region Branch is fortunate to have her as a member and we are all very proud of her achievements.

Josée Robert-McDonald hails from Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, and began piano lessons there at the age of four. She pursued her post-secondary studies at Montréal’s École Vincent D’Indy, and holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Concordia University where she studied piano performance with Linda Friedland and Yaron Ross. She then went on to obtain a Bachelor of Music Therapy degree from the Université du Québec à Montréal. After moving to Ontario, Josée began her career as a music therapist in Timmins. She married Bruce McDonald and two sons soon followed. Later, she obtained her teacher’s certificate from Laurentian University and taught music and visual art at the intermediate school level until her retirement in 2020. Josée has been teaching private piano lessons in Montréal and later Timmins for the last 40 years. Her students have been regular participants in the Porcupine Music Festival de Musique and have received multiple scholarships and awards over the years. Besides teaching, Josée has been accompanying singers and instrumentalists in the Porcupine Music Festival de Musique through the years. She is currently the piano artistic collaborator for the Francophone youth choir, De Tout Chœur. Josée is also an avid cellist and has been an active member of the Timmins Symphony Orchestra for over 20 years. She has been a proud member of the Ontario Registered Music Teachers’ Association since March 31, 1992.

Josée Robert-McDonald brings a distinctive perspective to our Branch as a private music teacher, school music teacher, and orchestral musician. Her background in music therapy makes her uniquely qualified in our Branch, and adds to her well-rounded knowledge of music. Josée makes valued contributions to Branch discussions and offers insight gained from her varied training and experience. She is very well deserving of the ORMTA Contribution to Teaching Award from the Timmins Branch!

Mimi Spencer grew up in Newmarket and has been playing piano since she was 5 years old. Early studies were focused on The Royal Conservatory examinations and she achieved her Grade 8 Piano and Theory when she was 17. She started teaching at the Ontario Conservatory of Music in Newmarket and Alliston when she was 18. Growing up in a family of musicians was very inspiring. All social gatherings had live musicians and dancing! Her Dad and her brother both played guitar professionally. Mimi took a hiatus from studies after getting married and to raise her 3 children then went back to lessons in piano and theory, history and harmony while living in Winnipeg Manitoba, first, Florenceville New Brunswick next, then Portage la Prairie, Manitoba and finally Brampton, Ontario. She achieved her first ARCT in Piano Performance while living in Portage. There she helped form the Portage Piano Teachers – a group that hosted student recitals, organized the ‘Grand Concert’ that kicked off the Portage Festival every year, and enabled members of Piano Six to hold concerts in the small town. She served on the Portage Festival Committee and became choir director, and church organist (on a beautiful pipe organ), at St. Mary’s Anglican Church. Living back in Ontario and working in the Marketing Department at RCM Examinations and getting to know and work with many wonderful CFMTA members from every province in Canada led to a desire to work towards the Teacher’s ARCT in Advanced Pedagogy Diplomas from the Royal Conservatory of Music so she could become a member herself. Mimi had many wonderful teachers over the years that included piano with Laurie Duncan and Ann Lugsdin from the University of Manitoba Preparatory Department, piano and theory studies with Caron Whitlaw-Hiebert and Ruth Douglas, and piano pedagogy with Christopher Kowal. More currently studies have included jazz and improvisation with Willie Myette from Rhode Island, USA. Ms. Spencer has been teaching piano to children and adults of all ages and levels for over 45 years. She has prepared many students for Royal Conservatory examinations, for festivals, recitals, and auditions, and continues to perform occasionally as a soloist in recitals for charity, and as an accompanist. When not busy with her teaching schedule Ms. Spencer loves spending time with her family, many pets, and working with and competing with her two horses. She currently serves on the executive committee of the ORMTA, Etobicoke-Mississauga Branch.

I am very pleased to announce the nomination of Mimi Spencer as The Etobicoke Mississauga Branch OCTA Recipient. Mimi has worked tirelessly in many positions in our Branch, and has also served on Provincial Council as a Zone Representative. I personally have known Mimi for many years; first in her capacity at RCM Examinations; and then as she became a member of our Branch. From my many encounters with Mimi, I knew that she would not only bring her business expertise from the business world with her; but would also bring a willingness to participate in, and support our Branch meetings and activities. Mimi approaches our Workshops, Assessments, and Social Events with a smiling, happy and pleasant countenance. Mimi is an integral asset to our yearly programs. She has served as Treasurer, First Vice, and then as our President for many years. Mimi is currently our Workshop Convenor, and also prepares the “Joe Show” Brochure for our Branch’s Annual Harmony, History and Analysis August Teachers Refresher Course. Mimi is married, with grown children. She also manages and maintains a very successful and busy teaching career. This, while at the same time as being a happy and loving caregiver to cats, dogs, and a beloved horse! Etobicoke Mississauga is most happy and proud to present Mimi Spencer as our 2021 OCTA nominee! Virginia Taylor, Past President, Etobicoke-Mississauga Branch.