Today, December 20, marks the first-year anniversary of our school’s existence without the steadfast presence of Angela Barbour who, as one of Jean Lyons’s senior students, formed what became the Jean Lyons School of Music in 1963.
As a piano and harmony teacher, she was about as good as it gets, and she nurtured generations of music lovers. We are still reeling from the loss, but carrying on with renewed strength because Mrs Barbour loved everything about what we do here at the School.
In November 2017, about a month before Mrs Barbour passed away from cancer, we dedicated our annual Scholarship Honour Recital to her and presented a commemorative gift. In what would be her final speech to our school community of families past and present, she thanked her students for letting her into their lives, while also paying tribute to her teacher, Miss Lyons, whom her mother had let into hers.
It seems a fitting holiday sentiment for all of us—to remember our teachers and parents, from one generation to the next, and how little choices such as where to take piano lessons can be truly life-changing.