Natalie Kuzmich | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Natalie Kuzmich

Natalie Olga Kuzmich (née Belz), educator, producer, adjudicator (born 22 May 1932 in Toronto, ON; died 7 January 2023 in Toronto). B MUS music education (Toronto) 1954, MA musicology (Toronto) 1968.

After teaching in Toronto secondary schools she joined the University of Toronto's faculty of education in 1967 and was its music chair in 1970. While teaching instrumental and vocal music there she simultaneously explored varied approaches to music learning among the students of the University of Toronto Schools. She was an adjudicator at the Scarborough and Kiwanis music festivals and was a producer of many original musicals for children written, composed, and performed by the faculty's music students. In 1986, Kuzmich also began teaching at OISE. She has written for the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada and has contributed articles to CME, Recorder, Reporting Classroom Research, and Teacher Education.

Selected Writings

  • Role of the Text in the Songs of Mussorgsky, MA thesis, University of Toronto (1968).
  • Musical Growth: A Process of Involvement (1986).
  • "Research, Problem Solving and Music Education," British J of Music Education, November 1987.
  • "The Issue of Creativity in Music Education," CME, vol. 29, October 1988.