LETHBRIDGE- Every song, every note of music no matter how soft or loud, tells a story that can only be achieved through a perfect balance of several elements simultaneously coming together.
“It’s unbelievable that I happened to find it. It’s just amazing and I often think to myself somebody upstairs must have known I was going to be there,” explained Doreen Laing of her discovery.
Laing just happened to be in the right place at the right time. The Royal Canadian Music examiner was in Penticton, BC, in June of 2012 for piano exams, when she stumbled on a piece of Lethbridge history.
“I was literally thumbing through music and I came across this and I thought ‘Sterndale Bennett, that’s mine!'” said Laing.
“It was a great treasure, it’s like finding pirate’s gold.”
For just over a dollar, Laing purchased sheet music from 1875 composed by Sir William Sterndale Bennett.
“I was very happy to find it,” said Laing. “I actually let a squeal out of me when I saw it and the bookstore owner came running down, he had to hunt for me and he said ‘are you okay?” and I said ‘I’m fine, I’m just so excited!'”
“It’s incredible because Sir William Sterndale Bennett was Ernest Sterndale Bennet’s grandfather and he certainly had a love of theatre because of how many times he was taken to the theatre as a kid,” said Galt Museum educator Belinda Crowson. “Having that sort of passion, he brought that passion here and helped to educate so many people.”
Laing has been teaching music in Lethbridge for 37 years, and felt it was only right to unveil her finding during the annual Kiwanis Music Festival.
“It had to be done this week. Everything just came together this time,” explained Laing. “Its home is here.”
Laing donated the piece to the city, and says it will be displayed in the lobby of the Sterndale Bennet Theatre, where it belongs.
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