Piano student Molly Vincent, 8, practices with instructor Anna Mitchell at the Penticton Academy of Music.

Image Credit: Mark Brett, Local Journalism Initiative

Just like it was in the early days at Leir House, there is very much a family feel to the iconic heritage building.

On any given day, the sounds of laughter and musical scales can be heard coming from the many small upstairs rooms of the nearly century-old structure.

“Truly it is really one big happy family here and people do just come in and make themselves at home,” said executive director Catherine Jones of the Penticton Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts one of the groups that now inhabits the house.

“It’s not unusual to find our students sitting on the stairs practicing before their lessons and just having fun here and I think the house is just part of that and it’s how we want everyone to feel, like it is a home. It is all connected.”

Built in the late 1920s, the “stone-clad mansion” was home to its builder Hugh Leir, his wife Joyce and their 11 children.

The Leir family eventually sold it to Penticton Regional Hospital and for 25 years it was  a nurses’ residence before being purchased by the City of Penticton.

In addition to the academy, it houses the Penticton and District Community Arts Council and the Penticton Potters’ Guild.

It is that home feel that made PADMA alumni Anna Mitchell decide to become an instructor there.

“The school feels like a safe and welcoming space for both teachers and students,” said Mitchell, 19, who continued her piano studies at the academy after moving to Penticton at age 13. “Everyone is here to learn together, have fun and build community. It has a friendly environment that doesn’t feel competitive which helps it feel like a safe place to learn and make mistakes.”

“It’s a great place for teachers like me who are just starting out. There are always people to help you when you need it.”

She especially loves romantic-era music and has continued to study during the past two years while teaching part time at the academy.

Mitchell’s goal is to eventually earn her Associate of The Royal Conservatory of Music (ARCT) diploma in piano and voice through the Royal Conservatory of Music. It is one of the highest academic standings awarded by that organization.

According to Jones, it is the young instructor’s “youthful energy” and approach to teaching that makes her a perfect fit at PADMA.

“She’s coming at it from a student’s perspective and everything in her approach to teaching is from what she knows works,” Jones said. “She’s living it everyday.

“There’s an innocent nature to it because she’s approaching everything for the first time. It’s the questions she asks that even make us rethink how we do some things.”

To Mitchell, studying music involves a lot of hard work and dedication. It should also be, “fun and rewarding and student oriented.”

And she feels there is no better place to do that than Leir House.

— This story was originally published by the Penticton Herald.

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