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Wellington band teacher inspires Nanaimo students

Julie Chadwick, Nanaimo Daily News, June 1, 2015

Carmella Luvisotto Wellington Secondary School band teacher

 

It’s been a whirlwind year for Wellington Secondary School band teacher Carmella Luvisotto, who has seen her students rise to awards and acclaim at band festivals throughout North America.

At the invitation-only MusicFest Nationals earlier this month in Toronto, her Grade 11 and 12 jazz students came out on top, and picked up four golds and a silver as well as multiple scholarships and bursaries.

With prominent musicians representing Nanaimo like Diana Krall and Christine and Ingrid Jensen, the city has gained a reputation for producing high-calibre musicians.

However, ask the students how they do so well, and all fingers point back to Luvisotto.

“This year has been her best yet for bringing home awards. We’ve never won like we have this year,” says bass player Tiana Dick, who won the SiriusX-cellence Performance Award at MusicFest in addition to playing at the prestigious Monterey Jazz Festival in California in March.

“She’s the only teacher I’ve ever had who stays every day until 4:30. And she comes early too. We’ll be at the school in the morning for 7:30 band practices,” said Dick, who is in Grade 12.

“If we have extra stuff on the side - like, we have gigs that come through Carmella - she’ll come and make sure we’re doing OK.”

It was in 2005 that Luvisotto first introduced a Jazz Academy at Wellington and became one of the few high schools in Canada to offer an education in jazz at the secondary level.

In addition to her school band programs, she manages 12 extra-curricular band combos before school, every lunch hour, after school and on the occasional Sunday. Then there are festivals, gigs and fundraisers.

“I know some people who missed out on a lot of opportunities because they didn’t go to festivals with their school,” said Ethan Olynyk, a Grade 11 student at Wellington who recently won the Pearl Canadian Drummer of the Year award at Music-Fest, as well as $2,500 Humber College scholarship.

Luvisotto’s motivation in getting the students into festivals - which she attends on her own time and out of her own pocket - makes a huge difference in what they are exposed to, said Olynyk.

Now in her 19th year teaching at Wellington, Luvisotto says this motivation comes from the commitment and passion she saw in teachers like Dave Strong, Steve Jones and Brian Stovell, who mentored her as a young musician coming up through the local school band programs.

“I can remember every detail of those times from Grade 6 to Grade 12, what I did with certain band teachers and the different inspirational settings we were put in,” said Luvisotto. “So I just wanted to continue that legacy of Nanaimo’s tradition.”

Though a talented pianist who also took up clarinet in elementary school, it was in her final year of high school that Luvisotto decided to pursue her path as a teacher rather than a full-time musician.

Part of the inspiration came from her father Fred, a teacher who helped start the earliest school band programs in Nanaimo.

“There was no band, so he just started his own Grade 6/7 band with the kids,” she said.

That early education is crucial to continuing music on into the later levels, she added.

“The band kids are generally really good kids. Whether they’re in Grade 8 or Grade 12, the older kids mentor the younger ones, the younger ones look up to the older ones. It’s like a family,” she said. “It’s a place for some kids to really feel comfortable, they know they can come to the band room at lunch, it’s open to them.”

Part of Luvisotto’s ability to mentor students to an award-winning level is her connections in the music world - Diana Krall used to give her piano lessons, for example - which allows for her to draw in top musicians to offer workshops to her students. Beyond the technical skills, education and connections these musicians offer, they also inspire the students to see what is possible for them in the world of music.

“She inspires everybody to want to practice. Our bands wouldn’t be the way they are if we didn’t have people going home and practising their instruments,” said Dick. “Anyone can give information to a band on how to play, but nobody can really express the passion and the work ethic that Carmella has.”

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