79-year-old piano teacher accepted to Oxford and Cambridge music programs

Susan Evans has been teaching piano to students on the North Shore for decades. She now might get the chance to go back to school herself at Oxford or Cambridge. (Courtesy: Abby Luciano)

A lifelong love of music is reaching a crescendo for a passionate piano teacher at the age of 79.

For more than 25 years, Susan Evans has been teaching little ones piano in North Vancouver’s Lynn Valley.

Last year, the piano teacher returned to school to get a master’s degree in music theory at the University of British Columbia.

As she wraps up, the aspirations for Evans don’t stop there as she’s been accepted to master’s of philosophy of music programs at University of Oxford and Cambridge University for the fall. Studying music at one of those premier universities in the U.K. has been a lifelong dream of hers.

“Just being accepted is a big thing all by itself. Even if I don’t manage to get to go, it pleases me hugely that they want me to go,” Evans said.

Music has always surrounded Evans. Her mother played the piano and sang to Evans in their home in Wales. Her father was also musically gifted, playing piano and clarinet in a jazz band. By the time she was five, Evans asked her parents for piano lessons.

Evans worked on mastering her craft, spending hours gliding her fingers over the white keys. In high school, she continued honing her skills while also learning to play the cello and joining the choir.

Her cello skills eventually led her to play in the National Youth Orchestra of Wales. She then went on to study cello, piano and composition at the Dartington College of Arts in Devon, England.

“There was a lot of music going on all the time,” she said.

But then Evans decided to change career direction to work in film, another passion of hers. She went on to complete a masters degree in film and television production in London, later becoming one of the film editors on Led Zeppelin’s award-winning 1976 concert movie, The Song Remains the Same.

She then took on a new career challenge, becoming a freelance writer in Tokyo, Japan, writing restaurant and theatre reviews, cultural and local-interest features for an English-language weekly publication after backpacking through Asia.

In 1981, Evans and her family moved to the Vancouver area, eventually settling in North Van.

Evans returned as a student 15 years later, starting at Capilano University’s music program then transferring over to UBC completing a bachelor’s in music after putting her career on pause to raise her family.

After finishing school, she began teaching students in her home near Princess Park. As she started to gain attention for her lessons, she was able to secure her own commercial space for a studio in Lynn Valley, teaching dozens of children for more than two decades.

“I love teaching on the North Shore,” Evans said. “It’s just been wonderful because the families there have been so supportive. I just felt so valued, and I enjoy teaching, it’s my favourite activity. That’s why I’ve been doing it for so long.”

She has fond memories of teaching students, watching them go on to pursue careers in music or otherwise around the world.

Now living in Vancouver, the piano teacher took a small hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic and rented a home in Nova Scotia, allowing a colleague to take over her teaching business. But now the piano teacher teaches again at the Lynn Valley studio once a week.

Attending Oxford or Cambridge to study music theory has always been a goal of hers, and she applied on a whim just to see if she would be accepted.

“When I was at school, I really wanted to go to Oxford or Cambridge and my marks weren’t good enough. It’s a lifelong dream to go, and to be able to go is kind of fulfilling something I’ve wished [for] my whole life that I didn’t.”

“If I don’t go now, it’s going to be too late. I’ve been wanting to do that for ages, and this is my very last chance to do it,” Evans added.

Evans said she wants to complete a master’s in philosophy in music theory from either university, with a particular focus in mid-20th century French composers, a topic that isn’t widely available here.

“I wanted to specialize in music theory. I’ve been teaching piano for a long time, and I really enjoy music theory, and I’m very curious about where music comes from, how does it work, what’s the structure of musical pieces and all that,” she said.

As Evans ponders her decision, a big factor is money, she said. Her husband, Barry Rueger, set up a GoFundMe in May to try and help raise funds for her tuition.

“The challenge for us is to cover the costs,” the post reads. “Although we own a small home in Nova Scotia, and have pensions and savings, the reality is that as an international student Susan will be charged more than £40,000 in registration fees for each year. That is, simply, just beyond our reach.”

Evans said she might sell a piano she has in Nova Scotia or her car in Vancouver to make up some of the tuition money. But even if Evans doesn’t go, she is thrilled to be accepted to both institutions.

“My main goal is that I’m really curious. There are things I don’t know … and I want to learn more about the structure of music, the centre of music, the core of music,” she said. “This is such an opportunity, it seems too big to miss.”

Abby Luciano is the Indigenous and civic affairs reporter for the North Shore News. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.