Piano-playing prodigy

Piano-playing prodigy

By Matt Mackinder
Clarkston News Editor

Margaret Aviya Whitelaw is only nine years old, but the Clarkston resident plays the piano at a level far above her age.
Last month, Whitelaw was one of the winners of the Royal Conservatory of Music’s first-ever Music Lights the Way Piano Festival, a North American festival March 21-22 with over $150,000 in prizes given to winners, provided by Yamaha. The winners were chosen out of over 8,000 submissions across North America.
Whitelaw took home the top prize of Level 5 of the Youth Division, awarded a Yamaha b1 Acoustic upright piano, a prize worth over $6,500.
“It means a lot to me, and it’s very special,” Whitelaw said. “Even just the opportunity of getting to be there at the Royal Conservatory (in Toronto) was a great experience. And to get to play on that grand piano to perform at Koerner Hall, it’s very special. I really enjoyed myself there during the event. I loved practicing in the practice rooms at the RCM. I got to meet other finalists, too, and we became friends. I had lots of fun there.
“When I was sitting at the stage and waiting for my name to be called when the second place was called, I was very shocked and happy.
“It’s going to be nice to have a new piano. I like new things.”
From Oct.-Dec. 2022, pianists across Canada and the United States submitted videos of their piece from the RCM’s Celebration Series®, Sixth Edition Repertoire book and the finalists were chosen from their video submissions. The finalists from levels 5-10 were flown out to Toronto to perform their piece live at the RCM’s Koerner Hall and the winners for each category announced during the grand finale on March 22. The winners all gave an encore performance and were awarded their prizes.
Whitelaw noted how music has been a part of her life for as long as she can remember.
“Since I was little, I liked to sing,” said Whitelaw. “I would like to dance, too. Now that I play piano, I practice piano every day and play my violin. We like to record worship songs together as a family. I am usually the vocalist, and my brothers are my backup singers. My parents sing, too. My dad plays guitar and keys. My mom sings. I really like music.
“Music is very important to me. I don’t know how I can go through a day without music. If there was no music, I wouldn’t have learned to play musical instruments. If there was no music, I would never have had the opportunity to go to the Music Lights the Way Piano Festival and play on that grand piano in Koerner Hall. I’m really thankful that I was able to, and that music is a thing.”
Going back a few years, Whitelaw said she started on the piano when she was gifted a tiny toy version and pretended to play songs and sing.
“My parents decided to enroll me in Music for Young Children, and it’s a great program,” said Whitelaw. “It’s a class where you learn notes and rhythm. They use animals to introduce notes. So I started learning that and then I got a keyboard. And then I joined my first piano competition at the age of five. I got first place and third place at the Kiwanis Music Festival. And then we got a Yamaha upright piano every year I joined competitions.”
Moving forward, keeping the piano in her life is a priority for Whitelaw.
“I want to keep learning more new songs,” she said. “I want to keep learning more techniques. I want to join more competitions. I want to do anything to help me get better at it and make progress every day. My teacher, Ms. Petya (Stavreva) has some cool plans and ideas for me all the time.”
Whitelaw takes part in online classes with Stavreva, as she is based in Toronto. Stavreva is always willing to work with Whitelaw’s goals, and always has great ideas to help her continue to improve.
Locally, Whitelaw attends Oakland Homeschool Music in Waterford. She is a beginning orchestra student and plays violin.

PHOTO: Clarkston piano player Margaret Aviya Whitelaw recently won a major award on an international level. Photo: Stuart Lowe

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