A career as a band teacher. That was Carrie’s dream when she was an aspiring young flute player, studying first at the University of Mary in North Dakota, and then as a music education student at the University of Victoria. Carrie Taylor finished her schooling and was promptly hired to teach high school band, as well as securing employment with the New Westminster Concert Band Society, teaching their Intermediate Band. Her future as an instrumental music teacher seemed certain.
But then… after a short time in her school job, a half-dozen or so students approached Carrie about starting a choir. Carrie agreed to try, and that was the beginning; she was soon seduced by the siren song of choral music, and her lifelong love of choral music education began.
Working in the choral education community, it wasn’t long before Carrie Taylor met Carrie Tennant. Carrie Tennant’s brainchild at the time was the BC Choral Mentorship Program, and Carrie Taylor was soon signed on and attending professional development activities with the group, which also connected her with other dedicated choral directors in the province. (Just an aside, but it can be more than a little confusing to have two ‘Carrie T.’s’ in the choral community.) Carrie threw herself wholeheartedly into professional development, learning all she could with the BCCMP, while also singing in choirs and attending any workshops or seminars she could find.
It has been a few decades now, and Carrie has distinguished herself amongst her peers in the music education community. The British Columbia Music Educators’ Association recognised Carrie with the Outstanding Professional Music Educators Award in 2022, and there are many other accomplishments, awards, and professional recognitions too numerous to mention here. What you really need to know about Carrie is this: As important as excellence in music education is to Carrie, and as high as her standards and expectations are of her students and herself, the most important thing to Carrie – the reason she is a teacher – is her limitless care and love for her students and the community they create together.
Carrie cares deeply about the quality of music education, make no mistake, but her real passion is creating beauty in the lives of her students.
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Which ’hood are you in?
My ‘hood is Queen’s Park, New Westminster. We bought a very small, very old house and thought it would be fun/romantic to fix it up. Of course, the first several thousand dollars went to fixing stuff inside the walls, and the reality of it all sank in. My other ‘hood is the catchment area around Burnaby Central Secondary. I have met some pretty fabulous families during my time teaching at Central.
What do you do?
I do a whole bunch of the same stuff! I teach beginner band and 5 different choirs at Burnaby Central. I just recently retired from the children’s choir I co-founded in New Westminster, called Vivo. I help Phoenix with their Hatchling program – a program for young children who attend Phoenix’s concerts and want to learn a song and perform. I coordinated the BC Music Educators’ Provincial Honour Choir for 20 years. I have worked with the Amabalis adult community choir. I do workshops for choirs and have done some adjudicating at festivals. One of the most rewarding things I do is a program for Chor Leoni called MYVoice. Many years ago, Diane Loomer realised that young men were no longer singing in schools. A program was started to provide a safe space for these young men to build community and learn to sing. It has evolved into a program that has several different chapters around the Lower Mainland, and the concert is at wonderful venues like St. Andrew’s Wesley or the Chan Centre for Performing Arts at UBC. Thanks to Chor Leoni, the entire project is free for the tenors and basses to participate.
What are you currently working on?
Taking the MYVoice concept further, I realised that young boys were singing in elementary school but dropping as they came into High School. Chor Leoni has helped me start another Program called Prelude when young singers are able to come for four rehearsals, make friends, learn a few songs, and then get to perform with the teen MYVoice group and Chor Leoni at the Chan Centre. I am thrilled that this year, we have two chapters for the Prelude group, one based at Burnaby Central Secondary and the other at St. James Anglican Church on the Downtown Eastside.
Where can we find your work?
Come to The Big Roar at the Chan on May 3rd. You will see both MYvoice and Prelude perform as well as Chor Leoni and their special guests, The Leonids. Tickets can be purchased here.
