Rebecca Duncan, a student at Pleasantdale School in Estevan, is not one of those kids who hangs out and complains about being bored or is content to aimlessly text or tweet. She’s much too busy to fall into those traps.
The 10-year-old plays piano, violin and guitar. She loves swimming and is a member of both the synchronized and speed swimming teams when she isn’t on the basketball or volleyball courts or even the football field. She also likes to dance, so her parents Margaret and Bruce slot some time for her there, too.
Oh, yes she also likes to sing. In fact, she enjoys singing most of all. She proved her prowess with the vocal chords recently by capturing the gold medal awarded by the Royal Conservatory of Music for being the top young vocalist in the province in her age and class category.
“I was surprised, really really surprised when I got that,” she said, her bright eyes sparkling through her dark framed glasses.
She’s been singing ever since she could remember and is a well known participant in local fundraising events such as the United Way Telethon, junior choir and school choruses.
“When mom gets a break from teaching piano lessons, she’ll get me and we’ll practice singing and maybe do a little piano too,” she said, describing her daily routines, which often aren’t routine at all, but rather spent scurrying from one class or one game to another. She also contends with two younger siblings, another challenge … but not really.
Capturing the gold medal during the Royal Conservatory tests was no easy feat, but the hours she has spent with her vocal coach, Megan Miller, over the past year paid off.
The gold medals are awarded to candidates in preparatory A and B classes and in Grades 1 through 10 who achieve the highest mark in their respective province or designated region. In Rebecca’s case, it was all of Saskatchewan. She and her family and Miller traveled to Regina to accept the award.
“I felt a few butterflies in the tummy just before, but after I started singing, it was all right,” she said, referring to the test that was taken in Estevan.
She scored a near perfect 94 per cent.
“I think I messed up a word in the German song, but I just kept on going,” she giggled. She didn’t think she fooled the adjudicator though.
“But I really don’t know that language, so I’m not sure what happened,” she added with another smile.
For the Conservatory test, she had to sing three numbers, one in German, one in French and one in English, while the adjudicator marked the height and depth of her vocal range as well as testing her musical knowledge and memory.
Learning the songs was a task in itself. Her mom led the way by having her add a little bit each day, or each rehearsal. By layering in the lyrics, she became familiar with each of them. “They challenged me, but they weren’t really hard,” she added with an affirmative nod of the head.
After the butterflies subsided, she said she felt a wave of excitement just in the fact that she was finally taking the test and wasn’t totally intimidated, besides her mom, who was accompanying her, was right there.
Rebecca is completing her Grade 1 level vocal and she is also at Level 1 in piano theory and is well advanced with that instrument. She is also enjoying her violin lessons and those exams are looming on the nearby horizon.
She really doesn’t get tired. OK, there are some days she’ll attack her music lessons with a little less vigour than others, she admits. Again, mom is there to ensure the practice sessions are completed.
Rebecca is working at writing some music for piano and voice, too. She said she doesn’t sing along when she plays the piano though. They are still separate entities. She is branching out into this musical composition world though, writing down the tunes that bounce into her head as she further explores her emerging musical world. She composed one song for her grandmother’s birthday, reported her grandmother, Betty Ribling.
“If it sounds right when I hear it, I write the notes down and try it out later,” she explained.
The Royal Conservatory of Music is one of the largest and most respected music and arts education institutions in the world that provides a definitive standard of excellence in musical education through its curriculum assessments, performances and teacher education programs.
Taking this musical adventure in stride, Rebecca said that after she finished her three songs, she wasn’t so sure she had even made the Conservatory’s stringent 80 per cent pass mark. So earning the gold medal was, indeed, a very pleasant surprise.
One final question was posed.
Why do you prefer singing over all the other musical pursuits?
“Well, for one thing, you don’t have to carry any instrument all over the place,” she replied with a big smile.
It was a perfect response from a 10-year-old, diminutive in stature, but growing ever larger on the musical scales.
