Hello Beautiful People,
Our next featured educator in the Ask a Teach Series is Charmian Lyons.
Charmain was born and raised in Kingston Upon Hull. She started playing Suzuki violin from a young age and then played various other instruments before settling on the oboe, which she then went on to study to Diploma level. Chairman says, “Music has always been a big part of my life and, besides performing, I really enjoy going to a variety of concerts and gigs. I am a vegetarian and animal lover and volunteer at a local rescue shelter from time to time. I also enjoy running and going to the gym. Finally, I love to travel, which is a big reason for me choosing to work abroad. I have been fortunate to visit some amazing places and am eventually hoping to work my way around all the Wonders of the World.”
MM: First things first, where and what do you teach?
CL: I am Head of Music at The British International School of Chicago, Lincoln Park Campus.
MM: Did you always want to be a teacher? If not, do you remember when you decided to go into the world of academia?
CL: No – I originally wanted to work in the music industry. I worked in London for Universal Music Group for 5 years before deciding to train to be a music teacher. I found that the music industry was not fulfilling for me and that I wanted to use my talents to help to teach others.
MM: Where did you do your teacher training?
CL: My teacher training was in Specialist Instrumental Teaching at The Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England.
MM: Who is your artistic inspiration?
CL: My mother who studied the piano at the Royal Academy of Music, London and then trained to be a Suzuki piano teacher and has been teaching ever since.
MM: What inspires your students?
CL: I find that as long as I can find a way for my students to connect and find some common ground with the music they are studying, then they can be inspired by almost any music they listen to. They also love to hear instruments played to a really high standard by professional musicians – this is where our link with Juilliard really helps as my students have opportunities to work with professional Juilliard Performing Artists which is a really special experience for them.
MM: What do you feel your students are most afraid of?
CL: My students are most afraid of making mistakes or bad sounds(!) during skills based lessons such as playing an instrument or reading music.
MM: Name three positive outlets that exist for students today.
CL: In terms of our students at BISC LP, the many community activities such as choir, orchestra and sporting events are excellent opportunities for our students to collaborate and get together. The STEAM corridor and Innovation and Entrepreneurship opportunities enable them to be creative and hands on whilst working in a cross-curricular way, and finally The Juilliard Music Curriculum allows our students to express themselves and connect to different genres of music in really creative and interesting ways.
MM:
Does social media play any part in your classroom? If so, how?
CL: I tweet constantly about the lessons I deliver based on the Juilliard Performing Arts programme. My pupils know that they have to work hard and perform their best if am going to film them for our school Twitter or Facebook accounts! We also have the NAE Juilliard Performing Arts Social Hub which is platform for showcasing videos and photographs of our lessons based around Juilliard Creative Classroom activities.
MM: What are three things you hope your students walk away with once they’re done with your class?
CL: A knowledge and respect for different genres of music, proficiency on an orchestral instrument, and a want to go and find out more for themselves out of school
MM: Describe your worst teaching experience.
CL: Working in an inner city high school in Manchester where the headteacher did not rate arts subjects at all.
MM: Describe your best teaching experience.
CL: My best teaching experience has been working at the BISC LP as I have been allowed to redesign the music program in terms of what instruments the student s get to learn at each stage and how they learn them. I have enjoyed teaching here even more since taking part in the Professional Development training at The Juilliard School over the Summer. I have been introduced to some really creative ways to teach the students and help them identify with some quite ambitious pieces of music such as Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute. This has opened the door to a whole new repertoire!
MM: In your opinion, what are the requirements for a great piece of art?
CL: I believe that a great piece of art causes the viewer to think or feel something in response. Great art stirs up activity in a viewer’s mind or heart.
MM: If we were to walk into your home, what books are permanently on your bookshelf?
CL: Some books that permanently live on my bookshelf are Lord of The Flies by William Golding, What I know for Sure by Oprah Winfrey, Dave Grohl’s biography, The Art of Possibility by Benjamin Zander, and various Lonely Planet travel books.
MM: What reasons would you give to a school board for protecting arts education programming within a school district?
CL: The arts are an essential part of the overall development of children. It is so important for children to be able to experience and access music and other arts subjects as a way of allowing them to be creative and express themselves and also to become comfortable with things that are uncertain in the world and recognize the validity of their own instincts and ideas.
MM: Who is/was your greatest teacher?
CL: As a teenager, I learned to play oboe with the Principal Oboist from The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. He was a fantastic teacher and really challenged me to always push myself further.
MM: What’s your instrument of choice?
CL: My main instrument is the oboe which I studied to ABRSM performance diploma level. However, I really enjoy playing the piano and wish that I had studied it further.
Thank you, Charmian!
Questions for Charmian? Tweet us @TheWriteTeach using the hashtag, #AskATeach, and learn more about her program here.
Live, Love, Learn,