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Caroline Spearing, Conductor

Caroline Spearing grew up in the small Ontario town of Ancaster, near Hamilton. She was assigned the French horn in grade nine — much to her surprise — but she soon grew to love the instrument. She remembers her father driving her to Toronto every Saturday for a lesson, as there was no-one in Hamilton teaching horn at the time. “We listened to ‘Calling All Britons’ on the way every week”, she recalls.

Caroline also studied piano in Ancaster and was the first principal horn in the newly formed Hamilton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. She traveled to Toronto each summer to study at the Edward Johnson building. In grade 12 she made her professional debut with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra.


Caroline received her formal musical training at the University of Toronto, graduating with a degree in music education. She taught for many years for the Scarborough Board of Education as an itinerant music teacher. She then became the consultant for the board of education and later moved on to Woburn Collegiate and Agincourt Collegiate. As the head of music at Agincourt she conducted the senior band, and all of the choral ensembles. In 2001 she became the head of music for Havergal College in Toronto, where she directed all the choral music for the school. She retired from Havergal College in 2007. Under her direction the choral program flourished with the choirs winning awards at both the Toronto and Provincial Kiwanis Music Festivals. The choir toured England, singing in major cathedrals such as St. Paul's London and Ely Cathedral, Cambridge.

Caroline co-authored several of the Music Course Profiles for the Ontario Ministry of Education.

She played French horn for many years with the Niagara and North York Symphonies and at present is a member of the Counterpoint Community Orchestra.

Caroline was a founding member of the Bell'Arte Singers, a fine chamber choir in the city, and sang with the choir for 21 years.

While playing the French horn and conducting takes up much time, Caroline is an avid participant in the sport of dog agility, where she competes with her doodle Clicquot. In her spare time she enjoys golfing and cooking.

photo by e.e.nixon / Photodocs.ca

 
 

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