the music festival does as well. As a child this was the culmination of many piano lessons, vocal lessons and choir sessions. The week of the music festival saw much scurrying between venues to be on time and sit through thirty or forty children your own age playing the same piece and then perhaps returning for another class; usually the same people, different selection. My father was called upon to transport school choir members. (We did not have school busses in those days)
The year I was in grade six was an especially poignant one. The music teacher with whom I had worked since grade one was in the hospital, seriously ill. That year she had kept myself and one other student to teach because that was all her failing health would allow. The night I was to sing the last of my solos, she insisted that her husband leave her bedside and come to the festival to accompany me. He did so and that night I attained a mark that meant I led my class. As soon as I finished he returned to her bedside and told her of the outcome. She died a few moments later and he told me that the news was the last thing that he was sure she understood. As an adult I treasure that memory. Tom Morrison was the director of music in city schools but that night he was fulfilling his wife's wish. Ann Morrison has had a profound influence on my life. My oldest daughter bears her name and Mrs. Morrison's picture sits on my piano.
Each year as the music festival comes I think of her influence that has stood me in good stead for fifty years. Today's festivals are different. Many fewer young people are willing to practise long hours to perfect their repertoire. We live in an age of instant gratification. Yet, as I accompany our school choir as they perform their four songs next week, I hope that the future years will allow them to benefit as I have from this particular activity. A job worth doing is worth doing well. Mrs. Morrison taught me that! She always insisted that you rehearsed each selection three times the to very best of your ability. She never prescribed 'an hour' or any set time to repeat. Quality was desired over quantity. Thank you for your lessons, Mrs. Morrison. You taught me about music and you taught me about life!
