Dr. David Buley received the Joan Mantle Music Trust Community Award for his contributions to music and education at the International Dinner and Silent Auction in support of the Trust on Saturday, April 9, 2016.
“Dr. Buley shares Joan Mantle’s passion for music education for all ages,” said Ralph McIntosh, Chair of the Joan Mantle Music Trust Steering Committee. “He has had a positive impact on music in the community, promotes lifelong music education and serves as an inspiration to others through his musical contributions and accomplishments in the community. He is most deserving of the Joan Mantle Music Trust Community Award.”
Dr. Buley said he was humbled to receive the honour. “I am humbled because I know that in all of the music that I am fortunate enough to have made, and will continue to make, there is a wide array of others that are necessary for that music to occur,” he said. “The making of music is never solitary: instrument makers, composers, ensemble performers, audience members, architects, and concert hall builders, our teachers, our supporters, all combine to make the spaces and places and opportunities where music is made, where we experience musicing. So offering an award such as this supports all of this musicing community.”
“In this room are so many representatives of that musicing community, and I want to uphold each person here who has participated in supporting music: for example, your time in learning the skills of playing or understanding particular genres of music; or your time in encouraging (sometimes coercing, as my parents did) another to learn those skills; your time in volunteering in organizing a young performers' ensemble, a band or choir; your extraordinary time in teaching someone else about the beauty and power of music,” he said. He added: “I have been fortunate to have had a host of teachers that took that sort of care and dedicated so much of their lives for my benefit, and I know that here there are equally devoted people encouraging their own students in innumerable ways.”
About Dr. David Buley
An Associate Professor of Music Education at Laurentian University, Dr. Buley established Young Sudbury Singers in 2007, an award-winning choir for children and youth from across the Greater Sudbury area. As director, Dr. Buley provides a high level of training to choir members with impressive results. Young Sudbury Singers have consistently received praise for their performances, having earned Gold or High Gold Standard at the Kiwanis Music Festival for the past seven years.
The choir provides a safe and enjoyable place for students from Grades 2 to 12 to come together to develop a love of choral music through study and performance; develop and refine voice production and general musicianship; experience personal growth and enhance their self-esteem through team building and the development of friendships among members; gain a cultural appreciation of music through exposure to works from various styles and periods, including works by Canadian composers; contribute to the cultural life of Sudbury; and connect with other choirs locally, provincially and nationally.
Dr. Buley is also the founding director of the a cappella choral ensemble Octatonic Decadence. Formed in 2010, Octatonic Decadence achieved first place standing in the Canadian National Music Festival in the choral ensemble category. The group’s membership fluctuates according to the voices needed for the wide array of music the group performs. Every concert is unique and enhances the cultural mosaic of Greater Sudbury. Audiences are introduced to music written by current composers and those who lived centuries ago, from Canada as well as other nations and cultures.
Another passion Dr. Buley shares is his interest in music in the environment, organizing outdoor dawn and dusk concerts on Lake Nepahwin and in the Lake Laurentian Conservation Area. While creating music, Dr. Buley invites community members to be part of his projects. This not only brings variety to the performances, it also allows people in the music community to grow, try new things, work together and develop mutual respect.
Through music, Dr. Buley also sets an example of how to be caring citizens and make Greater Sudbury a better place. The Young Sudbury Singers, for instance, participated in the “Voice of Hope Concert” in November 2015 to raise money for Syrian newcomers. He has also organized numerous benefit concerts on behalf of Better Beginnings Better Futures.
As an educator, Dr. Buley not only shares his passion for music at the postsecondary level, he also offers professional learning for elementary and secondary teachers to inspire a love of music in students of all ages. Dr. Buley regularly leads professional learning sessions for educators across Northeastern Ontario, including clinics for Choirs Ontario, and was a member of the organizing committee for the Northeastern Ontario Regional Arts Conference (NORAC) from 2006 to 2011.
Dr. Charlene Biggs, Director of Piano Studies and Music History at Cambrian College, knows Dr. Buley through his establishment of the Ariadne Women's Chamber Choir, Young Sudbury Singers and Octatonic Decadence. “I was impressed by his commitment to expanding musical life in the Sudbury community, by his dedication to helping singers hone their talents, his deep desire to instill the love of music in the children, and his commitment to educating at every level,” she said.
She added: “Dr. Buley has also been innovating in expanding our horizons in terms of where and when music can be performed. He has always shown himself eager to be involved in community music-making initiated by others.”
About the Joan Mantle Music Trust
The Joan Mantle Music Trust was established in the fall of 2008 to help refresh, modernize and revitalize school music programs in the Rainbow District School Board. The Trust allocates funding for musical instruments and equipment to selected schools on a rotating basis. The Trust also accepts the donation of new and used musical instruments and allocates them to schools in need. This ensures that there is an ongoing improvement in the condition of musical equipment throughout the Board, allowing for students to achieve more in their musical studies together.