{W5H} Cathy Nosaty

In grade seven and eight, when all the popular girls got on the volley ball team, I was on the W5H Team. It was a competitive trivia tournament between schools, very much along the lines of Reach for the Top. I was quick on the buzzer, and sometimes I think I knew way more stuff back then, in pre-Google land, than I do now [capital of Belgium anyone?].


In the spirit of W5H [which stands for Who, What, Where, When, Why and How], I've created this series for you to get to know some awesome and inspiring Artist Educators out there, many who I met at the Canadian Stage intensive in February. In W5H, we'll take a walk down memory lane with a variety of arts educators, to learn about their school days and their earliest memories of art and learning.


First up: Composer Cathy Nosaty. Cathy and I met ages ago when she worked on the sound design for Theatre Direct's production of Wajdi Mouadi's Alphonse, performed by the incomparable Alon Nashman. 

Where did you go to elementary school? 
St. Avila School in Winnipeg.  It was one of the first ‘open-concept’ schools where there were about 10 classes Grades 1 – 6 all in one huge space!  I don’t think the ‘open-concept’ lasted long though…..it was pretty noisy.

What was for your favorite subject?
Language arts.

When [if ever] did you get in trouble at school?
In grade 4 my classmates were accusing my friend Ruth of writing on a bookshelf with a black marker – Ruth said she didn’t do it and I stuck up for her.  I found out later that she DID write with the black marker – Ruth had thought there was a piece of clear tape there so she wrote on the bookshelf but denied it later.  I felt badly about it afterwards – I had not meant to, but I lied when I told the other kids she hadn’t done it.

Who was your favourite teacher?
Mrs. Beavis, my language arts teacher.

Why?
She made me feel special.  She even had me over to her house for lunch and for her son’s birthday party!  It was pretty great.

How did you cope with your least favourite subject?
I don’t recall having a least favourite subject in elementary school.  But in high school school I really disliked algebra – I didn’t understand a single thing the teacher was saying!  My marks went from 93% in geometry to 26% in algebra the next term– it was discouraging.

[this is Cathy at 5 year old]

Cathy has been an artist educator with Manitoba Artists in the Schools, Ontario Artists in Education, Learning Through the Arts with the Royal Conservatory of Music and the Create-An-Opera Program for The Canadian Opera Company. She has created scores for theatre production for regional and independent theatres across Canada, including music for over 60 productions for Manitoba Theatre for Young People and 10 productions for Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People.