A Personal Tribute to Lois Choksy (June 30, 1928 – February 2, 2025)
It all began in the fall of 1974 when I entered the Bachelor of Music program at the University of Western Ontario. As a first-year student, I was thrilled to be following my dream of studying music. In my musicianship classes, I met a Hungarian woman named Ilona Bartalus, who had a remarkable presence. It was in her class that I was first introduced to Zoltán Kodály, the Kodály Method, and Lois Choksy, as well as my very first solfège, hand signs and “ti-ti ta” rhythms.
I adored Ilona but also found her intimidating — the musicianship “tasks” were challenging! Over time, though, I came to love her classes. Her passion for teaching, boundless energy, and enthusiasm for Bach chorales and Canadian folk songs left a lasting impression on me. The seed she planted would take several years to fully blossom. I earned my Bachelor of Music in 1978 and my Bachelor of Education in 1979.
After a year of teaching in Fairview, Alberta, I moved to Strathmore and became the Music Specialist at Brentwood Elementary School — my dream job. I would go on to teach there for 40 years, retiring in 2020. During my first year, I discovered that Lois Choksy was teaching at the University of Calgary. I couldn’t believe it — the very woman whose work had inspired me
during my undergraduate studies was now teaching nearby! I knew I wanted to pursue my Master of Music degree with her. But how could I afford it? My husband and I had just bought a house after getting married in 1981.
In 1982, after only two years of teaching, I was awarded a one-year sabbatical — an incredible opportunity. I enrolled in the Master of Music program at the University of Calgary, and that year changed my life. It was a time of intense growth: teaching in a local school under Lois’s watchful eye, forming the Alberta Kodály Association, and launching Ephatha. The graduate
student office was directly across from Lois’s, so we saw each other frequently.
Lois surrounded herself with inspiring colleagues and students: Richard Johnson, Miklós Takács, Sister Thérèse Potvin, Karen Taylor, Dave Brummitt, Tim Rogers, Sharon Favreau, Luisa Izzo, Linda Rowlands, Alexandra Lawson, Shirley Perry, Catherine Glaser-Climie, Jan Dammon, Jan Taylor-Bilenki, Mary Buckley, Eila Peterson, Jeannette Panagapka, Alice Lingard, Ki Adams,
Alice Cockcroft and many, many more. The Kodály Summer Program bookended my sabbatical year. I reconnected with Ilona Bartalus and met János Horváth.
During that year, I chaired the committee that planned the Kodály Society of Canada Conference at the Banff Park Lodge in the fall of 1984. My mother attended — I was so proud! We all were, having successfully pulled off a National Conference. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I was pregnant with my daughter Sarah, who was born the following summer.
I became secretary of the Kodály Society of Canada while Lois served as president from 1984 to 1988. I have fond memories of traveling with Lois, Sharon Favreau, and others to Toronto for national board meetings at Boosey & Hawkes. I met many kindred spirits, including France David. I still remember our board’s Saturday night outings to concerts — The Barber of Seville at the O’Keefe Centre, Phantom of the Opera, and performances at the Winter Garden Theatre. Those were unforgettable days. We were united by our dedication to the Kodály Method and our shared mission to build organizations that would support it. We encouraged one another as we progressed in our careers.
Lois encouraged me to write my Master’s thesis on The Effects of Kodály Hand Signs on Pitch and Interval Discrimination within a Kodály Curricular Framework. During the 1983-84 school year, I taught two Grade 4 classes — one using hand signs and one without. Lois guided me through the entire process. I conducted the testing and, in the summer of 1984, wrote and
defended my thesis. I graduated that fall, with Lois by my side through every step. I was thrilled when my thesis was cited in the third edition of The Kodály Method, published in 1999 as The Kodály Method I. I still treasure my autographed copies of The Kodály Method (1974) and The Kodály Context (1981).
I served as President of the Alberta Kodály Association from 1985 to 1986. Our hardworking board organized the 10th International Kodály Society Symposium at the University of Calgary in 1991. At the time, our third child, Timothy, had just been born. I still remember him crying during Catherine Glaser-Climie’s presentation on Early Childhood Education at the University Theatre — and Sarah was part of the demonstration class! Years later, in 2017, my husband and I brought Timothy to meet Lois and Jeanette at their Caprice Bed and Breakfast in Gibsons. She signed some of her novels written under her pen name Blair MacDowell — books I now deeply treasure. We proudly told her that Timothy had become the Associate Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony. That was the last time I saw Lois.
Lois later became Chair of the Music Department at the University of Calgary. I remember attending the Celebration of Life for her husband, Lee, held in Boris Roubakine Hall. Mozart’s Requiem was performed in his honour. His home library near Cochrane, with books stacked from floor to ceiling, is etched in my memory.
Lois had always dreamed of building a new concert hall at the university, and her dream came true with the opening of the Rozsa Centre in 1997. She retired the following year at the age of 70. Our son Patrick performed many University of Calgary Orchestra concerts and his Graduation Recital for his Bachelor of Music in the Rozsa Centre. Timothy, too, has performed there with members of Latitude 49. Whenever I attend a concert in that space, I feel Lois’s presence everywhere.
Lois changed my life. Throughout my 40 years at Brentwood Elementary, the Kodály Method remained at the heart of my teaching — in classroom lessons, folk songs, and choir performances. All four of our children began their musical journeys at age three with Kodály classes taught by Catherine Glaser-Climie at Mount Royal College. They sang in her choirs, and
as a parent, it was deeply important to me to instill a love of music through singing and the Kodály approach.
Lois's vision — to found the Alberta Kodály Association and revitalize the Kodály Society of Canada — inspired in me a lifelong commitment to arts advocacy. Today, I serve as Chair of The Vault Cultural Collective in Strathmore, which supports the arts in our community. I’m also involved with the Alberta Music Festival Association, the Alberta Registered Music Teachers’
Association (both provincially and in Calgary), the Alberta Music Education Foundation, and the Strathmore Performing Arts Festival. I’ve taught piano since 1986, and since retiring in 2020, my studio has become my new classroom — one where I continue to apply Kodály principles whenever I can.
The framed picture of Zoltan Kodály that I was presented at the end of my Alberta Kodály Association presidency in 1986 hung in my school classroom until I retired in 2020 and now has a special place in my home. The values and passion for Music Education that Lois instilled in me continue to guide my life. She touched countless students, colleagues, and friends — and I will be forever grateful for her guidance, inspiration, and enduring legacy.
Carolyn Steeves, June 21, 2025
Note: Memory is a funny thing, I’m sure there are errors and omissions, please forgive!
I adored Ilona but also found her intimidating — the musicianship “tasks” were challenging! Over time, though, I came to love her classes. Her passion for teaching, boundless energy, and enthusiasm for Bach chorales and Canadian folk songs left a lasting impression on me. The seed she planted would take several years to fully blossom. I earned my Bachelor of Music in 1978 and my Bachelor of Education in 1979.
After a year of teaching in Fairview, Alberta, I moved to Strathmore and became the Music Specialist at Brentwood Elementary School — my dream job. I would go on to teach there for 40 years, retiring in 2020. During my first year, I discovered that Lois Choksy was teaching at the University of Calgary. I couldn’t believe it — the very woman whose work had inspired me
during my undergraduate studies was now teaching nearby! I knew I wanted to pursue my Master of Music degree with her. But how could I afford it? My husband and I had just bought a house after getting married in 1981.
In 1982, after only two years of teaching, I was awarded a one-year sabbatical — an incredible opportunity. I enrolled in the Master of Music program at the University of Calgary, and that year changed my life. It was a time of intense growth: teaching in a local school under Lois’s watchful eye, forming the Alberta Kodály Association, and launching Ephatha. The graduate
student office was directly across from Lois’s, so we saw each other frequently.
Lois surrounded herself with inspiring colleagues and students: Richard Johnson, Miklós Takács, Sister Thérèse Potvin, Karen Taylor, Dave Brummitt, Tim Rogers, Sharon Favreau, Luisa Izzo, Linda Rowlands, Alexandra Lawson, Shirley Perry, Catherine Glaser-Climie, Jan Dammon, Jan Taylor-Bilenki, Mary Buckley, Eila Peterson, Jeannette Panagapka, Alice Lingard, Ki Adams,
Alice Cockcroft and many, many more. The Kodály Summer Program bookended my sabbatical year. I reconnected with Ilona Bartalus and met János Horváth.
During that year, I chaired the committee that planned the Kodály Society of Canada Conference at the Banff Park Lodge in the fall of 1984. My mother attended — I was so proud! We all were, having successfully pulled off a National Conference. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I was pregnant with my daughter Sarah, who was born the following summer.
I became secretary of the Kodály Society of Canada while Lois served as president from 1984 to 1988. I have fond memories of traveling with Lois, Sharon Favreau, and others to Toronto for national board meetings at Boosey & Hawkes. I met many kindred spirits, including France David. I still remember our board’s Saturday night outings to concerts — The Barber of Seville at the O’Keefe Centre, Phantom of the Opera, and performances at the Winter Garden Theatre. Those were unforgettable days. We were united by our dedication to the Kodály Method and our shared mission to build organizations that would support it. We encouraged one another as we progressed in our careers.
Lois encouraged me to write my Master’s thesis on The Effects of Kodály Hand Signs on Pitch and Interval Discrimination within a Kodály Curricular Framework. During the 1983-84 school year, I taught two Grade 4 classes — one using hand signs and one without. Lois guided me through the entire process. I conducted the testing and, in the summer of 1984, wrote and
defended my thesis. I graduated that fall, with Lois by my side through every step. I was thrilled when my thesis was cited in the third edition of The Kodály Method, published in 1999 as The Kodály Method I. I still treasure my autographed copies of The Kodály Method (1974) and The Kodály Context (1981).
I served as President of the Alberta Kodály Association from 1985 to 1986. Our hardworking board organized the 10th International Kodály Society Symposium at the University of Calgary in 1991. At the time, our third child, Timothy, had just been born. I still remember him crying during Catherine Glaser-Climie’s presentation on Early Childhood Education at the University Theatre — and Sarah was part of the demonstration class! Years later, in 2017, my husband and I brought Timothy to meet Lois and Jeanette at their Caprice Bed and Breakfast in Gibsons. She signed some of her novels written under her pen name Blair MacDowell — books I now deeply treasure. We proudly told her that Timothy had become the Associate Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony. That was the last time I saw Lois.
Lois later became Chair of the Music Department at the University of Calgary. I remember attending the Celebration of Life for her husband, Lee, held in Boris Roubakine Hall. Mozart’s Requiem was performed in his honour. His home library near Cochrane, with books stacked from floor to ceiling, is etched in my memory.
Lois had always dreamed of building a new concert hall at the university, and her dream came true with the opening of the Rozsa Centre in 1997. She retired the following year at the age of 70. Our son Patrick performed many University of Calgary Orchestra concerts and his Graduation Recital for his Bachelor of Music in the Rozsa Centre. Timothy, too, has performed there with members of Latitude 49. Whenever I attend a concert in that space, I feel Lois’s presence everywhere.
Lois changed my life. Throughout my 40 years at Brentwood Elementary, the Kodály Method remained at the heart of my teaching — in classroom lessons, folk songs, and choir performances. All four of our children began their musical journeys at age three with Kodály classes taught by Catherine Glaser-Climie at Mount Royal College. They sang in her choirs, and
as a parent, it was deeply important to me to instill a love of music through singing and the Kodály approach.
Lois's vision — to found the Alberta Kodály Association and revitalize the Kodály Society of Canada — inspired in me a lifelong commitment to arts advocacy. Today, I serve as Chair of The Vault Cultural Collective in Strathmore, which supports the arts in our community. I’m also involved with the Alberta Music Festival Association, the Alberta Registered Music Teachers’
Association (both provincially and in Calgary), the Alberta Music Education Foundation, and the Strathmore Performing Arts Festival. I’ve taught piano since 1986, and since retiring in 2020, my studio has become my new classroom — one where I continue to apply Kodály principles whenever I can.
The framed picture of Zoltan Kodály that I was presented at the end of my Alberta Kodály Association presidency in 1986 hung in my school classroom until I retired in 2020 and now has a special place in my home. The values and passion for Music Education that Lois instilled in me continue to guide my life. She touched countless students, colleagues, and friends — and I will be forever grateful for her guidance, inspiration, and enduring legacy.
Carolyn Steeves, June 21, 2025
Note: Memory is a funny thing, I’m sure there are errors and omissions, please forgive!