It’s great to make a career doing something you love.
That is exactly what music instructor Laurie Maetche has done here in Lacombe.
She is the owner of Maetche Music Studios and teaches out of a small studio in the music department at Canadian University College. She said she is happy to share the gift of music and have a career doing something she enjoys so much.
Growing up in Lacombe, Maetche said it was “Just expected” that she and her siblings would play instruments when they were younger. So, she and her siblings all decided to take piano or violin lessons.
Maetche started with the piano, but soon moved to the violin. She continued to take lessons for several years but at 14 was considering discontinuing her studies.
However, her mother found a way to convince her to keep up playing the violin. Maetche said that, at the time, she was expected to practice a half hour every day and her mother had said she would find chores to fill that half hour if it was not spent learning to play the violin.
“I weighed the pros and cons and decided that playing the violin was much better than scrubbing the kitchen floor every Saturday morning,” said Maetche.
She first made the switch from student to teacher at 16 when a neighbour asked her for lessons.
After that, Maetche’s own instructor in Red Deer started referring students to her.
She soon found she enjoyed teaching even more than performing. She added that teaching was one of the things that kept her playing violin ever since she started.
“That just kind of hooked me, when I was able to get into the teaching,” said Maetche.
Another thing that kept her interest in violin was paying in a youth choir.
She said she has taken this lesson into her own teaching career and often tries to organize group lessons with students. “It’s making the friendships with other players that really helps.”
She added that sometimes, those students don’t progress as fast but that’s not always the point.
“They are having a good time with the music and that’s a big component of it.”
Now, Maetche has been playing the violin for about 40 years and teaching for about 30. While she enjoys teaching the most, she still performs and actually has a recital coming up at Canadian University College on Feb. 23.
Maetche said she enjoys teaching over performing because it takes some of the pressure off. A lot of performers, including herself, put a lot pressure on themselves while performing, she said.
“If I’m going to step up there and play, I’m going to play to the best of my abilities,” said Maetche.
She added that while as an instructor she still needs to play to the best of her ability, the atmosphere is more relaxed and she is allowed to make mistakes from time to time.
“It’s good for (the students) to realize it’s ok to make mistakes and to keep trying,” she said.
Maetche said that teaching full-time is a good way for her to pay the bills and still continue doing something she likes. She added that part of the reason her days are so full and she has so many students is that it is hard to turn potential students away when they are looking for lessons.
Maetche teaches both classical and fiddle-style violin as well as lessons on the viola, cello, piano and beginner guitar.