Penny Gumbert

Music has been a mainstay of Penny’s life. Lessons have brought not only personal fulfillment, but she also has shared her love of piano at theatre productions, weddings, church gatherings, nursing homes and through accompanying myriad choirs. In cottage country she substituted as organist at the local church. For five years she was a regular player of the Norfolk Carillon Tower in Simcoe. She even plays the musical saw and is part of the Guinness World Book of Records for being part of the 7th Annual Saw Players Convention in New York City.

On entering teaching she was a valued member of the elementary teaching panel as she had completed Grade X piano with the accompanying theory work required. This meant she could, along with her own classroom responsibilities, teach music to other classes as well as lead and accompany choirs. At that time she also completed a BA. from McMaster University in Political Science and Philosophy. She agrees with Nietzsche. “Without music life would be a mistake.”

An interruption in her teaching career saw Penny as a stay-at-home mother when she decided to hone her skills from the past and replayed both her Grade IX and X exams with the Royal Conservatory of Music. In her studies she has been inspired by the tutelage of Boris Berlin, Reginald Bedford and Lorne Betts, her theory teacher. As a piano instructor in her home at that time she was able to keep in touch with teaching and children who, she feels, are not only refreshingly honest but also are uninhibited in their enthusiasm for learning.