Remembering an Amazing Teacher
Bonnie Winterton was a very influential part of many of our lives. The purpose of this blog is to collect memories of Bonnie from her many piano students. We love Bonnie so much and want to honor her memory by sharing the many ways she has influenced our lives.
Were you a piano student of Bonnie's, or a parent of a piano student of Bonnie's? We would love to hear from you. Please share your memories here (you may need to click "Read More" to find the hyperlink). Thank you!
Bonnie Winterton. Many of you know her as grandma and others as a piano teacher, neighbor, mentor and friend. To me, she is all of those things. Enough for me to call my first born Bonnie.
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When I was 13, Bonnie took me in as a piano student and transformed me into a musician. She always said “practice on the days you eat,” “the rest are more important than the notes,” go slow to go fast,” “make weak things become strong” and “music is a gift to be lovingly shared with others.” She exudes Christ-like love and service. She was always playing for funerals, birthday parties or just to comfort people. She made sure her students shared music and nurtured the gift that was from God.
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I remember her emphasizing learning classical music along with hymns or primary songs. She would tell me that while classical composers taught us structure and musicality, the hymns and primary songs taught us about the plan of salvation. She worked on the church music board and I know those songs were important to her. When learning a song, she would tell us how we could connect with it or with the composer which would connect it with the audience.
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Bonnie has six kids so (back then) I wanted six kids just like her. She taught at the university of Utah for 27 years—-so, I wanted to go to the a university of Utah. She walked the track everyday so I wanted to run everyday.
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I remember in high school, I was struggling with many inner demons. I stopped caring about piano. One day, I came in and she lovingly told me that if I didn’t nurture my talent anymore, it would abandon me and it would die. She told me that I needed to get my act together. But she was always a safe haven when I needed some constructive criticism. From that point on, I put music first and she was able to get me ready for concerto nights and admittance into the university of Utah school of music.
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Even during college when she was no longer my teacher, she would always make time for me. Whether it was to talk on the phone, listen to me play and critique me or meet my babies.
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So to me, she is like Christ because she share gratitude, kindness and love.
Brittany haglund