June expressed that it has been a great pleasure learning more about Rotary. Music has been part of June’s life forever and because of her long life journey June really had to decide what small bit to talk about. The part she chose was how she founded Music in the Morning.
A ground breaker many times in her life, June always followed her dreams: to share her love of music, to make music accessible to a wide audience, to provide the opportunity for audiences to hear unusual repertoire and to promote and support young talent. For three decades she has contributed to the appreciation of classical music in Canada and the U.S. and in honour of her dedication as an educator, presenter, performer, and mentor, she has received both the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia. In April 2012 she was named an Honourary Fellow of the Royal Conservatory of Music and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal.
June started playing piano when she was 5. Like most, she didn’t like to practice. She certainly didn’t wane to be a performer but was always interested in teaching. When she finished her master’s at Stanford, she taught gr 8-12 music at John Oliver High school. Working with grade 8 boys – 13 years old, who were definitely not enthusiastic about their music class, she started thinking about what to do next. June taught adults at UBC, where she augmented the theory by playing at every class. Then after doing that for years, thought there would be something more. It all started when some women asked if she could teach out of her home. She held classes for about 20 ladies. It was more of a social event, with some talk, refreshments, and playing.
June kept receiving more requests to join into this musical group, but she couldn’t accommodate any more in her home. The thought came to mind that maybe she could move it to a hall of some sort. Call it Music in the Morning, as it was at 10:30 a.m. Who other than June Goldsmith, would think that a classical music concert series on weekdays at 10 o’clock in the morning would be successful? But June was convinced there was an audience willing to listen and appreciate the music she served with coffee and muffins at the Vancouver Academy of Music. So in 1986, Music in the Morning was born. Now known formally as the registered non-profit, Music in the Morning Concert Series Society.
She decided to have the artist speak from the stage, so they could present themselves as regular people rather than displays for show. Coffee would be served at 10:00 a.m., in real cups, along with some catered goodies. The artist of the day would speak about the music they were about to play. That was the extent of her plan.
June’s first call to an artist about their initial event got a good response. The second request didn’t get such a good response. June had lots of musical and teaching experience but no business experience. There was no infrastructure for the project to speak of. The driving factor was a genuine passion out of which grew a great thing. It has been quite the learning experience.
June had the support of her friends from the living room series who volunteered to help run the program. All the artists needed to be able to speak about themselves and their art. They opened one day a week on Wednesdays, sold out in two years, added Thursday, sold out, added Tuesday sold out, added Friday. All grass roots growth. Wanted all guests to come away enthusiastic, so program was planned accordingly. booking seats from her home phone, counting the receipts on a card table. From an initial 200 subscribers and six concerts in 1986, she increased her subscribers to 1400 and the number of presentations to 44 per year which included the morning concerts (repeated four days), an education series, early evening Rush Hour concerts and Sunday afternoon family music with Rob Kapilow. June guided the organization for 25 years.
For some reason the program got sidelined a bit for a while. It is a very serious concert, not just a group of ladies having a social. The idea was that they wanted a less formal presentation than the well known evening concerts. The daytime concert format was new and took some time to be taken seriously by many. Music in the Morning filled a niche in the cultural life in Vancouver. Initially the audiences were primarily female, about 5-10 years ago this changed so there is now a much more balanced audience. The program is one hour with no intermission, so this allows for many to attend during their working day.
After retiring in 2010 from an extraordinary career as founder, artistic and executive director of Music in the Morning, June Goldsmith continues to share her love and knowledge of music. She regularly appears with Sheryl MacKay on CBC Radio One on North by Northwest. One of her CBC fans emailed: “I would walk for a mile, uphill, in the snow, barefoot, to hear June Goldsmith talk about music.” She volunteers at a local school, did a series for autistic children and their families, and plays in a duet with Adrian Fung, who is a world class cellist. Adrian has taken the reigns from June in the role of creative director for Music in the Morning.
A ground breaker many times in her life, June always followed her dreams: to share her love of music, to make music accessible to a wide audience, to provide the opportunity for audiences to hear unusual repertoire and to promote and support young talent.
June’s belief is that “musical masterpieces are nourishment for the soul.” She describes her experiences as a teacher, presenter, performer, and mentor very simply: “I love what I’m doing.” Let it be so for many more years.
June finished her talk with a delightful performance of a Schumann piece from his Scenes From Childhood collection.
For more information about Music in the Morning, including tickets,
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