Barbara Cass-Beggs facts for kids

Barbara Cass-Beggs (born November 10, 1904 – died September 13, 1990) was a talented musician, teacher, and folk song collector. She was born in England but became a Canadian citizen. Barbara was known for collecting and teaching folk songs, especially to children.

She directed the University Settlement Music School at the University of Toronto. She also taught voice at the Regina Conservatory of Music. In 1957, Cass-Beggs started the Regina Junior Concert Society. She believed in using folk songs to help children learn music.

Barbara also taught music privately to children. She led music courses for pre-school teachers at Algonquin College. Today, an award and a scholarship are named in her honor. Her personal items are kept safe at the Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan.

Barbara Cass-Beggs: A Life in Music

Early Life and Education

Barbara Cass-Beggs was born in Nottingham, England, on November 10, 1904. She started playing the piano when she was seven years old. Later, she attended the Royal College of Music. There, she studied many musical subjects. These included composing, teaching methods, piano, and singing.

She learned from famous teachers like Herbert Howells. Between 1927 and 1928, she earned two important music degrees. These were the Associate of the Royal College of Music and the Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music.

Performing and Teaching in England

From 1929 to 1939, Barbara taught music to young people. She also gave many song recitals. She sang English folk songs as a mezzo-soprano, which is a type of female singing voice. She performed in both London and Oxford.

She was part of the 'Oriana' Madrigal Singers. She was also the first soprano in the London Charterhouse Quartet.

Moving to Canada

In 1939, Barbara moved to Canada. Her journey was quite dramatic. She survived a torpedo attack on the SS Athenia passenger ship she was on. This happened in September of that year.

After arriving in Canada, she continued to perform folk song recitals. However, World War II soon began. This caused many activities in Canada to shut down.

Music Education in Canada

From 1945 to 1952, Cass-Beggs directed the University Settlement Music School. This school was part of the University of Toronto. She also taught music classes there. In 1948, she helped with a report. This report was used to create Canada's first law about equal pay for equal work.

In February 1956, Barbara joined the Regina Conservatory of Music. She became a vocal teacher there. While in Regina, she wrote down her ideas about teaching music to young children. These ideas were later published in a book called To Listen, To Like, To Learn.

In 1957, she started the Regina Junior Concert Society. She did this without any funding or volunteers. She became its honorary president for life.

Collecting Folk Songs

Barbara was surprised by how few Canadian folk songs had been collected. So, she began collecting them herself. She wanted to use these songs for teaching. In 1963, she released a recording called Folksongs of Saskatchewan. This recording shared her research.

She left the Regina Conservatory of Music in 1964. In 1969, she started teaching music courses for pre-school teachers. These courses were at Algonquin College in Ottawa. She would fly from Manitoba to Ottawa every week for this.

Later Career and International Work

Barbara was also involved with the Canadian Society for Traditional Music. She served as its vice-president from 1968 to 1971, and again from 1972 to 1974. Between 1972 and 1976, she taught music privately to children in Vancouver. After that, she continued teaching in Ottawa.

By 1983, her "Listen, Like Learn" pre-school program in Ottawa had almost 250 children. She also offered music courses for mothers who understood music. Parents often asked her to teach even younger children. Because of this, she agreed to continue teaching infants.

In 1984, she gave a presentation at a conference in Tel Aviv. Two years later, she was invited to teach baby/parent classes in Vienna. In 1988, she traveled to Israel. She trained instructors and led workshops in Haifa and Jerusalem. She returned to Jerusalem in April 1989 for more training courses and workshops. There, she created a "Listen Like Learn Association."

In August 1990, she was a main speaker at a music education conference in Finland. She presented a paper called How music is first introduced.

Teaching Methods

Barbara Cass-Beggs developed a special way of teaching music. Her method helped children see how music connects to other art forms. It also focused on basic training in pitch (how high or low a sound is) and rhythm (the beat of music).

Her program was designed for children aged two to six years old. It included exercises to get babies and their mothers interested in music. Barbara believed that children have a natural sense of rhythm.

In her classes, older children were encouraged to become independent from their mothers. This happened after they had some time to get used to the class. She tried to show that babies who were sung to and heard soft, rhythmic music would grow to love music. She also believed they would have better concentration and learn to speak faster.

Personal Life

Barbara Cass-Beggs was married to David Cass-Beggs. He was the president of the Saskatchewan Power Corporation. They were married from 1932 until his death in February 1986. When they married, they both decided to keep their own last names. They had three children together.

Barbara Cass-Beggs passed away in an Ottawa hospital on September 13, 1990. A memorial service was held for her at the Unitarian Church in Ottawa on September 23.

Legacy

Barbara Cass-Beggs left a lasting impact on music education. In 1982, the Association for Early Childhood Education gave her the Children's Service Award. Algonquin College named a scholarship after her, called the Barbara Cass-Beggs Memorial Fund.

The Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan keeps a collection of items related to Barbara Cass-Beggs. These include her collected folk songs and audio recordings of songs. The archives also hold papers about her political life in Canada and England, as well as her personal documents.