Northumberland Violin Lessons

Deborah Henderson grew up in a musical environment. Her mother, composer and pianist Ruth Watson Henderson did her best to teach her two eldest daughters to play the piano as youngsters, but when her older sister Karen began violin lessons, Deborah wanted to play too. Karen switched to cello (a wise decision!) and Deborah began her violin studies at age 7 at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto.

At age 12, she continued violin lessons with Elaine Sargous, and also studied viola with Susan Lipchak and Tibor Vaghy in her teen years. Deborah attended North Toronto Collegiate, a high school with an outstanding reputation for its string program, and it was there that she received her initial orchestral training under David Ford, as well as enrichment programs in chamber music –string quartet playing in particular.

Regretfully, Deborah did not choose music as her path in university, a decision which was, in part, influenced by her sister’s choice to pursue a degree in performance on cello at U of T. Deborah chose Visual Arts instead, and followed her BFA degree with a B.Ed. from Queen’s in 1985. She continued to play violin now and then while at university but in her first years of teaching high school she was able to return to the violin more regularly, playing with both the Oshawa Symphony and the Oshawa Little Theatre while working as a Visual Arts and English teacher at Bowmanville High School.

In 1988, she married and moved to Port Hope, the home of her husband, a fellow teacher. Deborah continued to teach at Bowmanville High School until 1996, by which time she had two young children and she felt it necessary to be at home to attend to their needs. The violin resurfaced at that time, and after observing a Suzuki summer program in Toronto, Deborah saw an opportunity to pursue her career as a teacher, but in a manner that would give her enough flexibility to spend time with her own children. The Suzuki method  was what she was looking for: a more personal, nurturing and positive approach than the classroom setting had been, with a vast community of colleagues willing to share ideas, not to mention a proven student success rate. She took the first two of her five Suzuki teacher training courses in the summer of 1997.
 
Although chamber music was her preferred genre, she joined the Northumberland Orchestra and played in the pit orchestras for numerous musical theatre productions in Port Hope and Cobourg in the late 1990’s. At about this time, Deborah made the acquaintance of flutist, Fred Cory, through St. Peter’s Church, Cobourg. They performed a series of recitals there over several years and have since built an extensive repertoire of baroque and classical selections for flute and violin. They are in demand  frequently for weddings and other special events where live classical music enhances the atmosphere. Visit www.arcadianduo.com for details.

Deborah and Fred also perform regularly as members of The Ancient Music Trio, with partner Julian Nelson. The AMT has produced two recordings of early music selections, available through their website: www.ancientmusic.ca. They have also recently developed a program for elementary schools, designed to enhance elements of the social studies, math, science and music curricula. Details for teachers are available on the website.