John was my 2nd formal piano teacher, after Stephen Sword. Stephen got me (quickly) to Gr. 5 piano. Over the summer I fiddled with some Gr. 6 pieces, then met John as my new teacher at Cambrian College. He started me in Gr. 7 piano, and by June of the following year I took my Gr. 8 exam. A year after that came Gr. 10, and a year after that came my ARCT level recital. I worked hard for John, and there are several reasons why. The three years I spent studying music at Cambrian College in Sudbury were the most intense years of study I have ever done. The college program was perfect for students like me, who had very little music background, but wanted one very badly.
John was a serious teacher and a quiet man, though he had some wonderful quirks and laughed easily. He played along with students on his own 2nd piano at lessons, and sang constantly (peem peem pum peem peem pum...And now we're HERE, and now we're THERE...). By the end of a weekly lesson I had more than enough work to keep me busy in the practice rooms. John influenced many of us in ways that are difficult to pin down. Sure we studied repertoire with him (and I studied harmony with him, too), and he taught us much in the way of technique, interpretation, and musicianship. But in his own quiet way he was also an inspiration. No one wanted to disappoint John at a lesson, so we would practice furiously all week. When things didn't go so well at lessons you would never be scolded, only encouraged. He had an uncanny way of finding pieces perfectly suited to each student. He chose wonderfully for me, pieces I would never have had the courage to learn on my own, such as Beethoven's Tempest Sonata, Listz's Hungarian Rhapsody #13, Bach's Prelude and Fugue in C# Major (!), a Chopin Polonaise, Bartok, and so on. He opened doors for me that, as a very late starter on piano (18 years), I thought would never be open.
He pushed us into festivals (I won prizes!), TV appearances (I performed twice, once as soloist and once as accompanist), and community concerts. I performed the Liszt Rhapsody for a full house (over 800) at Laurentian University. I would have done none of those things without John shoving me into them. He would say at your lesson "You will play that on TV next week," or "I think you should enter all your pieces in the music festival," or "you will play your Liszt at this concert next Sunday." After giving your head a shake you would say yes, and then go home and not sleep for a week prior to whatever you'd signed up for.
At our graduation party in spring of 1976, the graduating class (about 8 of us--it was a very small, intimate college music program, the absolute best) got together to purchase a gift for John. It was a bust of Beethoven. As he was unwrapping it from its box he exclaimed "It's the head of someone." We all nearly died laughing. John had his way with words, and with teaching.
Mom called me today to tell me about John's obituary (see below). In an instant a flood of memories came washing over me. My closest fellow student/friends at the time were Maxime W., Claude B, and Lois B. I've heard nothing of Lois since graduation. I went to New Brunswick and PEI many years ago to visit with Maxime and Claude and their families.
I was dating Deb at the time I studied with John (she was in a very nearby high school), and she spent nearly as much time at Cambrian as me. I would eat dinner at her house often, then return to the college at night for more piano.
John was also a piano performer, both as soloist and accompanist. His concerts were always well attended, very well prepared, and anxiously awaited by his students and the community. There wasn't much classical music in Sudbury; the college provided most of it. Even the symphony rehearsed there, and I joined as clarinetist for two years, and Deb as violinist. They were intense, busy years, but among the happiest of my life. And John was at the center of it, since love of piano was my main focus.
I returned to Sudbury after university to play my grad recital again at Cambrian, organized by John for me. And one other later time I gave a concert there, again helped by John. I had hoped to reconnect with him and Marion over the summer of 2020, which was thwarted by Covid, so perhaps in the summer of 2021, to again perform a recital, mostly for family and friends this time. So I am left shocked and deeply saddened by John's passing. I will hopefully be in touch soon with Marion, and perhaps Max and Claude, too.
Here follows the text of the official obit, from which the above photo was taken. I have no pictures of John from my student days, at least none that I know of. How sad is that?
John Douglas Hannah
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