Leading Note Music students have enjoyed considerable success at local music festivals in the GTA and at the OMFA provincial finals competition winning many awards, medals, trophies and scholarships. In addition, students have distinguished themselves on RCM exams with numerous students achieving first class honours with distinction for marks above 90. In 2014, one student was awarded the 2014 RCM Gold Medal for grade 1 piano for achieving the highest mark in the province of Ontario with a mark of 99. In 2016, this same student was awarded the 2016 RCM Gold Medal for grade 4 piano for achieving the highest mark in the province of Ontario with a mark of 95.
While we are very pleased with these successes, success means more than this to us. We do not believe that success should only be defined by great exam marks, scholarships, medals, firsts, seconds, and thirds. As much as we are tickled about having a student receive a RCM Gold Medal, we are equally as tickled by a 76 another student achieved on an exam. This particular student had to rise above many things leading into her examination and did so with grace and perseverance. We are also pleased by how some other students rose above some physical injuries to perform at competitions and recitals. Then there are the week to week victories that happen in our home-based piano studios. For example, the moments where a student learns to project and shape a melody over a bass accompaniment, learns to play staccato notes more crisply, shows a marked improvement in their note reading skills, or suddenly decides that classical music is pretty cool. All of these successes are meaningful.
When our students end their studies with us, our hope is that they will be able to pick up sheet music and sight read, play a melody by ear and have an idea of how to harmonize it, and ultimately, to have learned to love and appreciate music of all kinds. Most importantly, it is our hope that making music will continue to be a part of their lives. That is how we will measure our success.