Hitting right keys with inaugural award
Teacher wins award
Mossman piano teacher Lynda Irvine is hitting the right keys with her students and was recognised for her work earlier this month with a Yamaha Break Out Award.
The award recognises excellence and innovation in piano teaching and was given to ten teachers selected from across the nation.
The ceremony held in Melbourne with the inaugural presentation of the award acknowledged the deeply important and impactful work that music teachers do.
As well as shining a light on the ways that teachers make a difference to students and their communities with their innovative teaching and support of music education.
She is the owner of Lynda’s Music studio, a flourishing music teaching business that has been operating in Mossman for a decade.
She was presented the award by Masa Shibazaki, the Managing Director of Yamaha Music Australia.
Speaking with Newsport the teacher found it hard to put into words what the recognition meant.
“I struggle to articulate everything that receiving this award means to me,” she said.
“It was humbling to be chosen from so many amazing teachers from all over Australia, I now have an ongoing connection with nine other awesome teachers, who have very similar music education goals.
“Being part of Yamaha’s commitment to music education and future music making, across all communities is wonderful.”
The awards ceremony was the highlight of the trip but also included a behind the scenes tour of Yamaha Music Australia headquarters, an insightful chat with Tina Arena, a fabulous awards dinner with a special conversation and performance by Paul Grabowsky and then two days of unique professional development with industry leading professionals at The Piano Teaching Summit organised by Hal Leonard Publishing and Yamaha.
The tickling of the ivories has been a lifelong love of Irvine’s, starting at a young age, as she explained.
“I have always loved playing and creating music since Mum paid for lessons when I was about eight years old.
“It was a personal expression of myself, and I really enjoyed it. This grew into wanting other people to enjoy creating music themselves and the joy that comes with music making with other people regardless of skill levels and cultural backgrounds.
“I realised that I could better do this by studying music teaching and attained a degree in music teaching majoring in Piano in my twenties. I continue to embrace new teaching techniques and technologies to make lessons engaging and relevant to students today.”
This has grown to be her lifelong occupation and Lynda’s Music Studio is a clear reflection of the love, passion, and commitment that she has to the discipline.
“I offer lessons tailored to each students learning style with thoughtful choices governed by age, instrument, culture and musical goals,” she said.
“I believe giving students the skills to create music with connections to all facets of the musical world, so they are not just performers but producers, creators, sound engineers, DJ’s and broadcasters.
“These connections deepen their understanding of music learning.”
“I also teach at the Mossman Youth Centre on a voluntary basis once a week and the difference access to free music education has made to the social and personal wellbeing of these young people has been nothing short of amazing.”
Irvine’s passion around music education and it’s personal and community benefits has led her to being the driving force behind raising $45,000 to buy the new grand piano for Douglas Shire that is housed in the Mossman Shire Hall.