Teaching is my vocation
Teaching is my vocation; anyone who has seen me teach, adjudicate or give a master class can tell you how much I love my work. Helping a student truly learn something - and seeing him feel good as a result – is enormously satisfying for me.
When a student comes up to see me and shake my hand or give me a hug after a lesson, class or adjudication, especially when they have had to dig deep and work very hard to face often considerable constructive criticism, then I know my job has been well done.
I have been teaching music and language for over twenty years in both Canada and Argentina. Although a good number are now performers, teachers and accompanists, in places like Ottawa, Boston and Toronto, the vast majority of my former students work in fields unrelated to music.
And I have worked with all manner of students; from the learning disabled to the profoundly gifted; blind students and partially deaf students; adult beginners and seasoned professionals.
The students I remember most fondly are those who simply evolved under my tutelage and became the best thinkers and musicians they could, regardless of their eventual career paths.