“It is remarkable that you can divide your life’s work into periods if you are lucky to live long enough. There is no way I could have anticipated all the adventures life had in store for me or the remarkable people I would meet that would guide me on my journey.” Heidi Peters.
The Telephone Party-lines (Old Social-Media), One-Room Schools
with No Plumbing, and Exploration Period. The daughter of German immigrants displaced from Ukraine due to the Russian Revolution (1917-1923), first-generation Canadian Heidi Peters has a rich heritage steeped in culture, music, resilience, perseverance and adaptability. Education, formal and experiential, and honourable character were priorities.
The Dial Phones, Rabbit-ear TV antennae, Typewriters, Books and Microfiche Period. During this time of intense studies, Heidi Peters earned two degrees: a B.Mus. (General) with Distinction, and a Master of Music (Piano Accompaniment now known as Collaborative Piano) from Brandon University, Manitoba, Canada, under the guidance of Canadian pianist Gordon C. Macpherson (himself a student of Menahem Pressler) of the Halifax/Brandon University Trio with Francis Chaplin (violin) and Malcolm Tait (cello). The highlight of these formative years of professional training was her mentors’ regular invitations to meet and chat with all the visiting world-class performers. These informal learning experiences were both highly inspirational and humbling.
Thanks to extensive theory and composition studies with Canadian composer Kenneth H. Nichols, and his mentorship, Heidi was introduced to the Manitoba Composers’ Association. This introduction led to an international career as a music copyist (using fountain pens, ink wells and expensive paper) which included significant work on the manuscripts of Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté. Heidi’s final orchestral project was Symphonic Christmas by Maestro Bramwell Tovey. The software Finale had arrived.
Heidi gained recognition as a collaborative pianist and teacher. Thanks to Peggy A. Sharpe, Director of the Brandon University Conservatory and Dean Dr. Lorne Watson of the School of Music, Heidi was hired as a Lecturer in Class Piano at 21. In addition, Heidi’s studies in psychology proved to be invaluable. As a result, Heidi, a multiple-scholarship recipient with an assistantship as a collaborative pianist, was a student, a faculty member, a private music teacher and a government employee concurrently.
Eager to explore professional opportunities outside the hallowed university halls, Heidi moved to Winnipeg, where she became a faculty member, teaching piano, theory and musicianship at the Manitoba Conservatory of Music and Arts and, for a shorter time, at the University of Manitoba Preparatory Department.
In 1986, Heidi bumped into her university colleague Julie Husband. Known for their humour and ability to captivate their audiences, they started touring Manitoba and northwestern Ontario schools as Duo a la Carte. Julie played all the woodwind instruments, and Heidi played piano and percussion. Thanks to the Manitoba Arts Council, they premiered commissioned works by composers Robert McMullin, Dave Jandrisch and Victor Davies. The last world premiere, Excursions by Victor Davies, was performed in 2012.
Although a novice to the film industry, Heidi was asked to coach the stars and play the soundtrack for the 1988 Genie awards-nominated movie The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick, directed by Allan Goldstein and produced by Stephen Foster, co-produced by Richard Davis and starring Noam Zylberman, Fairuza Balk, Saul Rubinek, Jan Rubes, Susan Rubes, Aaron Schwarz, Sharon Coder and Nigel Bennett.
Thanks to former student Janet Shum, In March 2016, Heidi was pleased to participate in filming the fifth episode of the new APTN and CBC-TV series, Taken. The series, hosted by Lisa Meeches, is based on true stories about missing and murdered indigenous Canadian women and girls. In the fifth episode, Emily Osmond (Taken S01E05), Heidi was the dog-handler of thirteen dogs, including her two huskies, and reenacting RCMP Lloyd Goodwill’s search with his canine partner. Human rights issues and education through the arts are dear to Heidi’s heart.
Meanwhile, Heidi worked on the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, 2nd edition, University of Toronto Press, 1992, as one of the thirty-two correspondents and information scouts. And Dr. Ferdinand Eckhardt, retired Director of the Winnipeg Art Gallery (1953-1974) and the Austrian Consul in Winnipeg, and founder of the E-Gré Foundation, casually taught Heidi a lot about art and history, introducing her to many international art curators until his passing in 1995. Most of the lessons were in German.
The Answering Machines, Voice Mail and Word Processors shift to Home Computing, Emails and Cell Phones Period. In 1991, Heidi opened her own bustling, private music studio. With the increasing demands of being a dedicated teacher and family member, there was less time for rehearsals and touring. As a result, the need for Heidi as a presenter, consultant, guest lecturer, AGM keynote speaker and panellist on an array of pedagogical topics was intensifying. The range of topics included: Heidi’s ongoing studies in training healthy piano players, the prevention of performance anxiety, motivation, learning, musicianship, sight-reading, teaching adults, attracting youth to the symphony, music theory and composition, stage presence, tone production, understanding how students think, and enhancing the pedagogical perspectives of interested teachers gained recognition. Clients ranged from Stage, and Music Directors of Rainbow Stage, the Manitoba Opera Association, and the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, to the Manitoba Registered Music Teachers’ Association.
Juggling all the hats of an independent contractor requires sophisticated business skills. So, thanks to the encouragement of a business associate, Heidi studied Personal Financial Planning.
Heidi was eager to learn more about current national and international pedagogical practices and broaden her experience. So, she worked as an Adjudicator and joined the Royal Conservatory of Music College of Examiners in 2005. During the following twelve years, Heidi, deemed a multi-subject matter expert/certified advanced multi-specialist by President Dr. Peter Simons, RCM, travelled to examine in centers in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Northwest Territories, Yukon, Washington, California, Texas, and Pennsylvania.
In 2013, Heidi, recognizing a massive shift in thinking, introduced online lessons to her students as an alternative to in-person classes during inclement weather, illness and travel issues. The gained experience and familiarity with online teaching proved to be a significant advantage in 2020. As a result, in 2017, Heidi was welcomed at her first pivotal Performing Arts Medicine Association conference: Fake It Until You Can’t, at the University of Toronto.
The Cyberspace, Hello World Period. In 2018, thanks to the encouragement of friend and mentor, Dr. Erna Schilder, retired Nursing Professor, Heidi presented “The Diagnosis and Prevention of Injury-Contributing Habits for Pianists” at the Third USF-PAMA (University of Southern Florida-Performing Arts Medicine Association) Southeast Regional Conference: Lifecycle of the Performing Artist. The presentation responded to an international medical query: what are pianists NOT being taught. In California, a month later, Heidi joined top medical professionals in an intense PAMA training course conducted by top-ranked global medical experts. As a result, Heidi was ostensibly one of the first eleven artist-teachers globally to have completed the course offered by the Performing Arts Medicine Association and the American College of Sports Medicine experts as a Performing Arts Health Education Consultant: Instrumental Specialist.
In 2018 and 2019, Heidi presented at TEMPO Conferences hosted by the Manitoba Music Educators’ Association and the Manitoba Band Association on topics dealing with systemic exploitation of musicians, music teacher burn-out and morale-building, hoping to validate, inspire and value the roles of school music teachers.
In January 2020, upon the recommendation of Dr. Dorian Leljak, President of the World Piano Conference (WPC) and the World Piano Teachers’ Association (WPTA), Heidi received her first invitation to present on a topic(s) of her choosing at the World Piano Conference (WPC) in Europe. Although the invitations have continued, Heidi has not participated to date. However, thanks to a network of incredible minds, Heidi has received more diverse opportunities in the interim. To all, “the two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” Leo Tolstoy.
Weeks later, Heidi’s suspicions were validated. She fought for her life as a new Type 1 Diabetic as she heard another patient die of a horrific respiratory illness in the intensive care unit. A week later, hearing new patients enter acute care with respiratory diseases, Heidi convinced healthcare that she could go home and teach them how to teach her by phone and online. By March 15, 2020, diabetes care team members were re-deployed to treat Covid patients due to a global pandemic.
Upon diagnosis, a few physicians and a chronic-care team nurse (CDE) diabetes educator urged Heidi to study all the material to train medical professionals to become diabetes educators. Could she identify why there was a less than desirable patient outcome?
Less than two months after being diagnosed as Type 1 Diabetic, Heidi sustained a medial collateral ligament (MCL) Grade 2 tear while hiking in rugged terrain.
So, in addition to quickly shifting to running an exclusively virtual music studio permanently, Heidi studied and trained a lot more to become better informed and the strongest and healthiest in her lifetime. In September 2021, Diabetes Canada acknowledged Heidi for her studies. Although current medical protocol dictates that only those deemed healthcare professionals may become certified diabetes educators (CDE), Heidi is the experienced diabetic pedagogue with new insight to address the initial query posed by the medical professionals. What Heidi has learned thus far about trauma and stress, the influence of the endocrine system on behaviour, mood, attention, energy, sleep, learning, vision, nutrition and digestion, exercise, neuropathies, pain and injury opened a whole new chapter of hope.