Musichouse Idea Exchange

Colleen Morrison graduated in 1984 from the University of Western Ontario where she majored in both flute and piano.  As a student she had the opportunity to sing with the UWO Faculty Singers under the direction of Darryl Johnson, an experience that fostered in her a life-long love of choral music performance. She received a BMus with a double major in Music Education and French and in 1985 she opened her own music studio. 

Over the past forty years she has taught hundreds of students many of whom have gone on to study music very successfully at the post-secondary level.  Every year her private music students and choral ensembles receive rave reviews from festival adjudicators across Ontario, very often traveling outside Canada to final competitions in the United States.  She is very active in her community, directing, assisting with musical performances at the Academy Theatre and for Triple Threat Theatre.  In recognition of her ongoing work in the Arts, Colleen was presented with the 2014 Dennis Sweeting Arts Person of the Year Award.

If you are looking for advice about of vocal music or choral singing then Colleen is your go to person.  Give a listen to Colleen's Lakelands Youth Chorus perform 'All the Little Rivers of Canada' as well as the hauntingly beautiful Canadian folk tune 'Frobisher Bay'.

David Morrison received a B.MusA from the University of Western Ontario and then completed his B.Ed programming at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. Johns.  Since then he has spent over forty years teaching instrumental and vocal music to students of all ages. His students have performed on stages and at festivals across Canada and the United States, releasing five professionally produced CD’s along the way.  Many of his former students have gone on to have successful careers in music.

From 1998 – 2006 he was Director of the Lindsay Kinsmen Marching Band and conducted tour performances from Newfoundland to Alberta, and from 2006 - 2015 he ran the Odyssey Project music program which he created to give young musicians the opportunity to develop their skills through the rehearsal and performance of popular music. 

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David has been involved in the creation of many innovative programs in music and the Arts including the Kawartha Lakes Arts Council, the Cooperative Initiatives in the Performing Arts program (CIPA), and the Trillium Lakelands Arts Camp.  For this work he has been recognized on several occasions.  He was nominated for the Prime Ministers Award for Teaching Excellence in 2001, and in 2007 he was the recipient of the Dennis Sweeting Arts Legacy Award and was recognized in Canadian Living Magazine’s national “Me to We” project.  For his contributions to the Trillium Lakelands DSB he received both the TLDSB Award of Excellence for his extra-curricular music programs and the Directors Recognition Award for his 8 years as a board trustee. In 2017 he was presented with an honorary lifetime membership with the Kawartha Lakes Arts Council for his contribution as a founding board member and inaugural chair of that organization. 

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Although he is retired from teaching high school music, David continues to work with young musicians and teachers as an adjudicator and workshop clinician.  He volunteers with various school band programs and performs with the Kawartha Lakes Concert Band which he founded in 2018.  

If you have questions about concert bands, jazz ensembles or contemporary groups, David is your guy.