Community Music Initiatives

Our long-time guitar instructor and friend, Kevin Shirley, is a married man as of July 1st! CONGRATULATIONS, KEVIN AND MARYANN! Kevin, after your 21 years of teaching and working with us, it is going to take some getting used to you being married to anything but Community Music! You are a man of great dedication and commitment. Maryann, you have done very well to win Kevin’s heart. We look forward to your arrival in Canada from your tropical Fijian homeland. May all your hopes and dreams together come true. Clarence & Kevin

Former Community Music violin instructor, Martine denBok, and her partner and consummate guitarist, Noel Fudge, are releasing their first album, self-titled Freya, next week. This is an absolutely beautiful and moving piece of work all original folk music, written by Noel and Martine, both classically trained musicians whose passion and technical mastery come together in this tapestry of joys and sorrows all the seriousness and struggle of our lives interwoven with playfulness, contentment and love. Thank you Martine and Noel, and congratulations!! Dad/Clarence To listen to pieces on the album, visit www.fortheloveoffreya.ca or facebook.com/fortheloveoffreya

On April 15, 2017 a Community Music guitar student, 12-year old Cole Hanson, of Lamont was very seriously injured in a fire. Cole is facing a long painful recovery. At the request of Cole’s family, their friends and the community of Lamont, a GoFundMe account has been started to raise funds to help with any medical expenses that aren't covered and to allow Cole’s parents to be at his side as much as he needs them. If you can help, here is the link to Coming Together For Cole: https://www.gofundme.com/3nt61vk Our thoughts are with Cole and his family.

https://www.facebook.com/TEDEducation/videos/1489398127740055/

Historical Mural Reveal Nov.14, 2016.

CMI co-founder, Clarence denBok, setting up the new CMI studios at the Beaumont Community Center. Starting on Monday, November 14th, all Community Music instruction will take place at the CCBCC, the new cultural heart of Beaumont Where It All Happens!. This is a very exciting step for us we are proud to be a partner in this new facility and thrilled to welcome students to our comfortable instruction rooms here. Please be sure to accompany your student to and from the upstairs studios for the first couple of weeks, and to use the WEST doors.

As we review the 20 years since Community Music started, we are doing a lot of reflecting about all the amazing instructors we have worked with. We recently posted a giant thanks to Kevin Shirley for his 20 years of teaching with Community Music. Our second-longest serving instructor is Donalee Inglis-Gorfer, who has been teaching piano and voice in Devon and Gibbons for 18 years! It has been a pleasure and a privilege to work with Donalee and we can’t thank her enough for... her dedication to her work and to her students. Donalee came to CMI in 1998 (we still have her FAXED resume on file!) with a B. Ed and a Master’s Degree in Music, as an RC Affiliate Teacher with years of experience preparing students for exams in piano, theory and history in all levels, as well as vocal coaching at MacEwan University. She is a familiar face and an experienced accompanist in festival and recital, and has also conducted the Edmonton German Men’s Choir since 1982! Donalee is a warm, compassionate individual who takes a great interest in her students and goes above and beyond the call of duty to help them succeed. If you have any great stories about your experience with Donalee, or with Kevin Shirley, as your teacher or mentor, please share them here!

LESSONS ON THANKSGIVING MONDAY If you are unsure of your instructor’s teaching plans for Thanksgiving Monday, please be sure to contact him or her to confirm, or call Community Music. Also, a huge and well-deserved congratulations to instructor Kevin Shirley, who is now in his 20th year of teaching with Community Music! Kevin is our longest serving instructor. Kevin teaches in Devon, Fort Saskatchewan, Gibbons and Legal. Past and current students will attest that he is an excellent and very personable teacher. We are thrilled and grateful to have been able to work with Kevin all these years. Kevin also has an interesting side-line/hobby, painting guitars with a unique method called swirling/marbling...

We're extremely proud of our instructors... Breanna Fehler, Elizabeth Grigaitis, Donalee Inglis-Gorfer, Eric Lam, Carmen Lazzarotto, Jackie Power, Denise Sanche, Kevin Shirley, Kent Shores, Helen Stuart, Marty Verhagen and Stephen Walton!

In addition to piano, Donalee also teaches voice in GIBBONS on Mondays! Beginner to advanced, all ages.