Sturgeon Valley Music School

Musical education is typically most effective when it starts at a young age. Younger minds have an advantage over adults when it comes to learning new abilities and information, especially in relation to auditory skills, such as language or music. The general rule is this: If you want your children to succeed as musicians, start their education as early as possible. Luckily, there is an organization in St. Albert that can help out you and your children with those musical aspirations. For the last 26 years, the Sturgeon Valley Music School has made it their mission to bring music into the lives of St. Albert’s youth.

The School was founded in 1990 by members of the Sturgeon Valley Baptist Church who wished to supplement the regular education of their children with some musical instruction. Sharon Dowie, the current director of the school, joined the organization as a teacher in 1991, and has seen a lot of growth in those years.

Today the school is able to offer programs that cover a wide variety of musical styles and utilize many different instruments. These days, the music school’s staff even travels around to local elementary schools and daycares to offer early childhood musical education to the community.

To celebrate the end of each semester, the music school holds a recital, open to all members of the public. This recital is meant to showcase the skills learned by the students over the course of the term, as well as give them a bit of practice performing in front of a crowd. “We have two recital dates a year, ranging from first time performers, to seasoned musicians. It’s just a lot of fun to see how far all of the students have come.”

It is Sharon’s hope that the students of her school will continue on their love of music long after they graduate. “Our goal is to create life musicians. Our professional, caring staff work hard to nurture and develop musical talent. We provide our students with the technical expertise to continue to high levels of playing.”

Though Sharon and her staff have been teaching for many years, it has never really felt like a job. “I feel so privileged every day that I go to work to do this job that I absolutely love. If anything, my passion continues to grow the more I do it. It’s the same with many of our staff members, too. We just have a really nice atmosphere here.”

To learn more, you can visit the website of Sturgeon Valley Music School here