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Lacombe music teacher wins Women of Excellence Award

Laurie Maetche has been teaching music for 35 years
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Lacombe music instructor Laurie Maetche recently won a 2020 Women of Excellence Award in the Arts, Culture and Heritage section. (Photo credit: Karmen Meyer)

Lacombe music instructor Laurie Maetche recently won a 2020 Women of Excellence Award in the Arts, Culture and Heritage section.

“I was thankful they told us to write a thank you speech in case we happened to win because my mind went blank. I wasn’t expecting it,” the teacher of 35 years said.

Maetche — who specializes in violin, viola and piano — was approached by her friends who wanted to nominate her for the award.

“Even having them come up to me was such an honour,” she said.

Maetche’s music career started as a family tradition.

“My parents wanted all of us kids to learn music. I was the only one of my four siblings to continue with music and part of that was a neighbour who was two years younger than me asking for lessons,” she said.

Maetche got her start with her neighbour and continued on teaching.

“It was great to share the knowledge I had at that time and then it kept going. I enjoyed it and made a career out of it. Two years before that, I was wanting to quit and my mom said, ‘You aren’t quitting’,” she said.

Maetche joked that she still doesn’t much like practicing but she has been able to forge some cool friendships along the way and she has been able to see hundreds of students develop.

“It is about children learning how to focus, take direction and then follow up on all that. It is more than music — it is about life skills and I think that is why I like it so much,” she said.

Maetche said she was excited to learn about all of the other nominees and said it is great to see women getting recognized as leaders in the community.

“To be considered one of them was just amazing,” she said.

To learn more about the other nominees and recipients, you can log on to the Women of Excellence website.



todd.vaughan@lacombeexpress.com

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