Building a Bond To Last

May 6

“She’s too young” was Angela’s first thought when she met Lori, who was three years old at the time. However, Lori’s mom had confidence in her, which convinced Angela to take her on as a student. Twelve years later and Angela is still teaching Lori.

Learning the piano notes was the first obstacle. “I remember Angela telling me, "‘the first notes are A – B – C, so what is the next note?’ to which I said, ‘D.’ Then I started to rattle off, ‘then E – F – G – H...’ but she had to stop and say, ‘No, not H, it goes back to A.’” “It can be a difficult thing to teach students at that age because in the alphabet, nothing comes before A,” Angela says. Lori adds that she remembers thinking, “that’s not how it goes, but apparently that’s how it goes in music.”

Of course, this is just one example, but every student faces all sorts of obstacles when it comes to learning an instrument. Angela mentions, “What makes her talented is that she’s really quick. Her brain and her fingers. Not just in piano, in everything.”

Lori (Age 5) with her first BCCM Music Festival win in 2010 - Preliminary Class

“I had the right balance of motivation and challenge”

Being quick comes with its own set of challenges. Angela says, “She can learn and memorize a piece really quickly, but sometimes she needs to slow down and be patient to work on the more musical things.” These roadblocks are not always easy to deal with. Lori says, “I feel like every student thinks, ‘these roadblocks are really frustrating, I’m getting out’, but I never got to the point where I said, ‘I’m not going to do this anymore.’”

One of the reasons is that, over time, Angela has learned that in order to keep Lori motivated, she needs to be challenged. Lori says, “I think I had the right balance of motivation and challenge at the same time…what keeps me motivated is having that challenging factor to it and feeling like I need to achieve this to prove something to myself.” It’s the reason why “she did a lot of exams and performed in festivals. Any chance [she had], she went,” Angela adds.

Lori (Age 15) - Winner of Diploma Highest Average Mark & Advanced Concert Group at Music Festival 2020

“We managed to build a bond”

However, the teacher-student relationship is a two-way street. “I admire her because she listens,” says Angela. Not only is Lori talented, but “she listens, is attentive, and cooperates.” There must be a give and take for the relationship to succeed. Lori says, “She's been my only teacher for 12 years...since we’ve been working together for so long, we managed to build a bond and be able to understand each other outside of just the piano.” Angela adds, “[Lori] is highly organized and will even text me to remind me of things...just like a daughter of mine.”

Lori (Age 15) receiving her Fellowship Diploma from the British Columbia Conservatory of Music

“Hard work and dedication”

It’s this level of relationship that has helped Lori succeed in her piano journey. Most recently winning two categories at the BCCM Music Festival – Diploma Highest Average Mark & Advanced Concert Group as well as completing her BCCM Fellowship Diploma at 15 years old.

“Angela taught me that with hard work and dedication to really practice and push through all the challenges, you can achieve anything and it's translated into things I do in my daily life,” Lori says.

As they look ahead, Angela and Lori continue to work together to prepare for future festivals and competitions with their relationship as the bedrock of success.