UNITY - It is an honour to present, on behalf of the Unity Music Festival Association, our Volunteer of the Year Award to Melody Kuhn.
Melody was born with a love for music; she played her first song by ear at the age of 18 months. It was a song that she had heard on the radio in the car on the way home from town. She began piano lessons at the age of six in Provost, Alta., under the instruction of Verlie Meiklejohn, a wonderful lady who would become a special friend and mentor. Melody will always be grateful to her parents for the sacrifices they made to allow her to take lessons. Her mom would pay for her lessons with the money that she made from selling eggs. Melody attended Macklin School where she took part in the band program. She began with alto horn, switched to clarinet in Grade 7, and then to flute by Grade 9. She found band very easy and gratifying, but her first love was always the piano. At age 13, Melody met a boy, who would eventually become her husband, through their mutual involvement in the Kerrobert Unit School Band. Melody says, “That was many years ago, but I still love the music and the man.”
Music festivals have been a reoccurring favourite annual event in her life. Her first taste of competition was at the age of seven in the city of Lloydminster. From there, she became very involved in competition and accompaniment work at both the Provost and Unity Music Festivals. She remembers being inspired by the talent and grace of a few young players back then who are now teachers and active members of our festival Committee. Noticing that she liked to sing, Melody’s piano teacher gradually introduced her to some annual involvement in the vocal and musical theatre competitions in the Provost Music Festival. Melody started playing the organ for the Macklin St. Mary’s church choir on Sundays when she was just 14.
She started teaching piano lessons to young children at the age of 15. She sang in two choirs, accompanied for an incredible group of singers called the Eight Tones, and took on the keyboard and female voice part in a country/rock band called Lonesome Charlie for a few years in her later teens. She began singing and playing for weddings and funerals by that time as well. Melody even did some lounge singing on the weekends before starting her family. Melody taught piano for 16 years in Macklin and enthusiastically prepared her students for competition in the Prairie Sunset Festival and a few students also for the Provost and Unity Festivals.
She was a member of the Prairie Sunset Festival Committee for several years. By then she was raising a large family at home and decided to step down from teaching in 2001. Melody’s children were talented and driven in many individual ways and she always encouraged them to find their passions and to share their talents in the Music Festival programs. Melody joined the Unity Music Festival Committee officially in 2013. Every year you can find her phoning and scheduling our adjudicator secretaries and contacting parents for various volunteer positions. Her dedication has and continues to be so much more than her position. She is always willing to help in any way that she can. Melody, your dedication, support, positive energy, and musical talents are just a few of the reasons that we are honouring you.
On behalf of the Music Festival committee, we thank you. Congratulations!
