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Musical Director:
Frances has been organist and choir director at many churches – Kingston Nova Scotia United Church, Protestant Chapels on many CF Bases, Cookstown United Church, Windermere United Church Ullswater-Bent River Anglican Church, and Bracebridge Knox Presbyterian.She has directed Children’s Choirs in Winnipeg Manitoba and Kanata United Church (for 25 years). Frances has directed the Men’s Choir for Cookstown United Church and has directed Muskoka Men of Song (for 5 years). Frances wrote Music for Young Children in 1980. That program is now world-wide. Frances has adjudicated at many music festivals. She enjoys teaching music to all ages (presently her youngest student is 4 years old and her oldest is 89 years old! Frances loves to help people learn! Frances has a Masters degree in working with folks with learning challenges from Acadia University. She is an accredited DISC trainer. She has an ARCT in Piano teaching. She has studied choral conducting with John Standish in Winnipeg and taken singing lessons with Lois Watson in Winnipeg. Frances has taken harpsichord lessons with Cecile Desrosiers. She loves making birch bark cards for all occasions and enjoys gardening.
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Accompanist:
Recruited from his grade 3 classroom, Steve began musical studies at "Les Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal", the choir school for St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal. There he studied musical theory, choral singing and piano. With his family moving to Toronto during the late 1970's, Steve began saxophone studies in grade 8, joining his high school's stage band and orchestra. Studying Actuarial Science (Mathematics) at the University of Waterloo, he led and played piano for a number of church choirs before heading to teacher's college with his wife Kristan. Together they taught at St. Dominic Catholic Secondary School in Bracebridge when it opened its doors for the first time to 63 students in 1995. Steve has taught there ever since--other than during a 2-year volunteer stint in the remote Pacific island nation of Kiribati--currently acting as the Chairperson of Mathematics, as well as teaching Instrumental Music and Introductory Guitar in alternating years.
Steve taught his five children to play the piano, and still enjoys playing music with his family at local retirement homes and events such as the Bracebridge Fall Fair, as well as distance running, coaching minor ball, keeping Kristan's chickens from causing trouble, and cheering on his favourite teams the Boston Bruins and Red Sox.
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