Many in St. Albert knew Frances Schuchard as a gifted pianist, teacher, accompanist and volunteer.
To one of her youngest students she was simply known as “Mrs. Sweetheart. He couldn’t pronounce her name and just called her Mrs. Sweetheart,” quipped Martha Livingstone, Schuchard’s youngest daughter.
Livingstone was opening up about her beloved mother, a much-praised musician who received a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award presented at Friday night’s Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts.
The award honours long-standing and significant accomplishments over an entire career and Schuchard, having lived in St. Albert since 1970 certainly qualified.
Born and raised in Oregon during the Depression, piano lessons were a luxury for Schuchard – then Frances Marie Brobert. But music was a family priority, and her parents made numerous sacrifices.
“Her mom sewed clothes so she and her sister could take lessons. And the family moved to follow and find good teachers,” Livingstone noted.
Schuchard earned a master’s degree in voice and piano from the University of Oregon and was on her way to Chicago to prepare for a career in opera when the Second World War broke out.
“She married my dad Richard, started raising eight kids and directed musicals. My dad was very musical and became an officer in the navy. He was in recreation and would play the ship’s piano.”
Canada wasn’t on the map for the Schuchard family until friends moved up to Red Deer and extended an invitation to visit. The Schuchards came in 1968 and never really left.
“After the war, my dad got a job in radio in Medford. Dad realized it was a young man’s game. Where he worked there was no retirement plan and they had kids to raise. “
At the time, the Edmonton region was desperately searching for teachers and the couple had badly needed skills.
While Richard found work in Edmonton, Schuchard taught music at Vital Grandin Elementary for a decade before moving to Albert Lacombe Elementary. On evenings and weekends, she taught private lesions, performed at nursing homes and worked as an organist and choir director at various churches in the Capital Region.
“I used to go with her and at one time I remember she played at three different churches. It really stands out. One was Anglican. One was United and one was Catholic. She had done so much church music and knew it so well.”
Although Schuchard lived in St. Albert, she extended her teaching talents to Edmonton’s inner city for both children and adults. If program participants lacked the money to buy an instrument, Schuchard would loan one from her collection.
Several of Livingstone’s strongest memories are family performances at the Bissell Centre during several Christmases.
“I grew up in St. Albert and after coming back from the Bissell, I had a much different attitude about my own house. It was her way to show by example about giving back.”
Most people were unable to pigeonhole Schuchard’s age, mainly because of her dynamic energy and giving nature.
“She never separated work from recreation. If she had a party, she would invite her students. We were all together.”
And the effusive praise came from many quarters. Student Rayne-Anne Latchford described her teacher as one of the most extraordinary influences in her life.
“One of the most remarkable things she did for me and taught me was to take my passion, whether it was angsty or sad or frustrated and to translate it into a technique that would help me a better musician and a better person.”
By 1993, Schuchard co-founded Visionary College and with a team of people developed a piano method book.
“She believed in teaching the whole keyboard. A lot of studios teach students to play a piece of music. She taught how music is constructed. That made it way easier to analyze and remember music,” Livingstone explained.
In the final analysis, Livingstone remembers her mother as a woman who created many ripples in the pond.
“Her ability to see possibilities in everything and everyone was always there. She truly looked at people and saw possibilities. A lot of people say they do, but she really did.”
