Welcome to the Hanover-Walkerton Branch of the Ontario Registered Music Teachers' Association

One of our many Zoom meetings

September 25, 2020 Physically distanced meeting on Laura's Deck.

September 25, 2020 Student Awards

October 18, 2019

Following the business portion of the meeting, we reviewed Hallowe'en activities for our students.

September 13 2019

Our first meeting for the 2019 -2010 season was held at Charnwood Villa Tea Room in Goderich. We had a productive meeting followed by "High Tea".

Workshop and Zone Competition 2019

On Saturday May 25, 2019, the Hanover-Walkerton Branch hosted an ORMTA sponsored workshop, followed by the annual North Central Zone Competition.

The morning began with registration and snacks followed by Frances Balodis' workshop: Understanding the Student, Understanding the Teacher. We were thrilled to have a good turn-out for this very interesting exploration of the DISC system for relating to our students and their parents. Each person has their own attributes such as being goal-oriented, outgoing, sensitive, or cautious. Frances' stories were practical and relevant to us because they were based on her music teaching experiences. We came away with a new way of sensing how we can better connect with others.

Following lunch, we enjoyed a delightful afternoon of music at the Zone Competition. We were so proud that our Zone had such technically advanced and musical students whose performances were all outstanding and all deserved the first class marks they were awarded. Frances Balodis was our very competent adjudicator. Winners were: Junior Vocal - Rhys MacMaster Gormley, Junior Instrumental - Connor Taylor, Provincial Vocal - Alexis Bateman, Provincial Instrumental - Evelyn Liang.

April 6, 2019 Branch Young Artist Competition

On Saturday, April 6, our branch held it's annual Branch Young Artist Competition at Shoreline Baptist Church in Port Elgin. We enjoyed performances by some very talent young performers and the following adjudication by our very competent adjudicator Mary Lynn MacLean. Congratulations to the winners of our fairly new Novice Level, Rishab Roychowdhury and Alex Oestricher. Also congratulations to Michelle Wang, our Junior Student Instrumental winner, and to Cindy Lu, our Provincial Student Instrumental winner, both of whom advance to the zone competition to be held in Hanover on Saturday May 25.

October 26

Meeting at Pianovations to play group 'ensembles' on their many pianos. A good opportunity to explore upcoming festival material. Meeting and lunch afterwards at Cowbell.

May 4, 2018

Yesterday our branch met at the home of Susanna Lyman in Goderich where she introduced us to her historic Fortepiano. After explaining about the building, tuning, repairs, and workings of the instrument, Susanna performed to demonstrate. Then we all gave it a try. We found it interesting that the keys were smaller than those of a piano, and the top notes were lighter. The damper pedal was operated by pressing your knee upwards. We met afterwards at Beach Street Station for lunch and a meeting and were happy that retired member Gail Lear was able to join us.

April 7, 2018

Branch Competition, Port Elgin, Ontario. We were pleased to welcome Catherine Robertson as our adjudicator.

December 1, 2017

We had a great meeting ending with a fun workshop portion on studio policies, helpful tips, and a winter composition activity!

March 25, 2017

Branch Competition, Hanover, Ontario.

Our October 2017 branch workshop with Debra Wanless showcased Canadian music selections for the Mid-Western Ontario Rotary Music Festival. The hands-on approach made for a very enjoyable morning!