Oh, the Places They’ll Go!

By her own account, Maria van der Sloot was something of a late starter in her musical career, starting her violin lessons at the age of six rather than the customary three to five age range typical for serious students of the instrument.

Despite being so dangerously close to being over the hill, van der Sloot managed to advance through her studies, going on to secure as position in the First Violin section of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.

“Somehow, I turned it around,” she laughs.

The fact that she not only comes from a musical family but one in which both parents are music educators undoubtably helped young Maria make up for lost time. In fact, she learned to play from her father, William van der Sloot, formerly of the Mount Royal Conservatory here in Calgary and currently a Professor of Violin at Oberlin College + Conservatory and Associate Teaching Professor of Violin at Carnegie Mellon University. Her mother, Aleksandra Danicic, teaches violin at El Sistema Calgary, which provides accessible music education in underserved communities and also performs with local alt-folk group The Wandering V’s.

A few ground rules kept the arrangement from creating friction at home: she took her lessons at Mount Royal like any other student, but back at van der Sloot family HQ, “dad was just dad.” Additionally, she was adamant that she be allowed to practice alone.

“I told my parents when I started that I would only do it If I could practice by myself, so you can’t be in the room with me at home, that has to be my space.”

Given her current position with the Calgary Phil, the approach obviously worked. Not only did the experience teach her how to be a musician, but it also paved the way for her own practice as a violin teacher. When van der Sloot isn’t performing with the Calgary Phil, chances are she’s teaching one of her 15 or so private students or leading both the advanced performance program and the Senior Violin Masterclass at the MRU Conservatory.

“I always say I am very much my dad’s daughter — the whole method of learning that I grew up with … I use the same general approach with my students,” she explains. “Of course, I have my own spin because I had other teachers and also because I’m just a different person.”

Beyond working with her students on intonation, rhythm, melody, and all the technical aspects of learning violin, van der Sloot says one of her favourite things about teaching is in the relationships she develops not just with her students but their families as well.

“Their parents put so much trust in you as being a separate, non-parental figure,” she says.

“You’re guiding [the students] through this very, very long process, and I really think the parents are just as much a part of that. I feel like it’s a big responsibility to see them through this big journey and whether or not they go into music, it’s something that will affect their trajectory.”

Among the students van der Sloot has seen through to graduation is Jewel Chiang, winner of the most recent Marley Rynd Memorial Performance Scholarship. Managed by the Calgary Foundation with the Calgary Phil serving as an adjudicator, the award is presented annually to an emerging musician with the aim of assisting in their career development. This past fall, Chiang began studies at Oberlin Music Conservatory in pursuit of an undergraduate degree in violin.

“I’ve known Jewel since she was probably eight or nine years old. I wasn’t her teacher the whole time. It was a couple of years ago that I became her private teacher,” explains van der Sloot. “I worked with her in summer programs when she was really little and saw her progress from afar. Then, as her teacher, I took on a more hands on role. So, yes, it’s very special to see her pursue a future in music.”

Besides her teaching practice in Calgary and role with the Orchestra, van der Sloot serves as faculty at the Valhalla Summer School of Music in British Columbia and performs with the Land’s End Ensemble. One can’t help but wonder how she manages it all, but she maintains the rewards are more than worth her time and effort.

“It can be a really useful tool for kids,” she says of learning an instrument. “There are a lot of things that happen when you’re growing up that you don’t understand and things that change in life. Music is a good outlet. It keeps them present and able to engage with whatever they’re going through and experience their emotions in a way that is not destructive but that is healthy and is safe.”