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 Gloria Jean Nagy
Special Teacher
Ottawa Region Branch
2009
Gloria Jean Nagy is the oldest of five children born to Irene and James Nagy of Brantford. Although her parents did not play any instruments, all five children took music lessons on the piano and stringed instruments. As part of the Brant County String School, orchestra rehearsals on Saturdays, as well as Hungarian Language school, were a past time for many years. Music dictation and orchestration were learned at an early age when working with various instruments for upcoming Hungarian performances. At age three and four, she persuaded her parents to buy a piano. Lessons followed at five with ORMTA teacher Edith Burrill. It was during this time she discovered her voice and entered singing classes as well as piano classes in the local Kiwanis Festival. At eleven she sang Mabel in the Pirates of Penzance. Lessons with Dorothy Lord and Helen Simmie at the Royal Conservatory followed. She, again aged eleven, became the church organist and choir director. It was then that she discovered she had an extended low range as well as a soprano range. Sunday afternoons became busy with the Brantford Symphony Orchestra rehearsals as they were seeking viola players - for seven years Gloria Jean shared a music stand with some of the great violists from the Toronto Symphony. Harmony, Counterpoint, History and Analysis were taken with many influential ORMTA teachers.
University days were at the University of Western Ontario. It was a time to focus studies on one instrument and due to some painful bone spurs in both hands it was decided singing should be the focus. Studies with many voice teachers followed, including Mary Morrison. It was the association with Mary Morrison which led to the desire to search out and perform Canadian works. In 2002 and 2006, with the help of ORMTA pianist Dr. Elaine Keillor, Gloria Jean sang on a Conservatory Canada recording featuring the music of Toronto composer and ORMTA member Mary Gardiner and later was featured on the Carleton Sound recording called Musique: Songs for Parlour and Stage. In between were years of study and competitions in Spain, Hungary, Montreal. Gloria Jean was the first vocal ORMTA Young Artist winner in 1983.
Since moving to Ottawa in 1981, Gloria Jean has always had a rather large studio of thirty plus students weekly in addition to choral activities and raising two daughters with her husband’s help. As a teaching tool Gloria Jean started her performing group called Cantabile in 1986. The focus was and is on recording Canadian music and standard vocal repertoire for students to have access to in their own studies.
Gloria Jean was a founding member of the National Capital Region Branch of the National Association of Teachers of Singing in the early 1990's. For the Montreal Convention in 1994, she and fellow ORMTA member Merla Aikman provided a lecture recital on Canadian music that featured Canadian composer Dr. Patrick Cardy where his cycle Autumn was presented (sung by Gloria Jean). For the handout, Gloria Jean prepared the booklet A Singer’s Overview to Contemporary Canadian Literature featuring the works of 25 vocal writers. It was revised in 1996 and is now available at the Canadian Music Centre. It has been used as a reference text in universities in Canada and the U.S.
From 2001 to 2003, Gloria Jean was the Ottawa Region Branch President and in 2006 was on the committee to host the ORMTA convention in Ottawa.
Congratulations, Gloria Jean, from your friends & colleagues at the Ottawa Region Branch!!!
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