North Battleford musician Cole Knutson has been accepted to study at a prestigious school in London, UK. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Reaching for a star

‘Prairie boy’s dream’ to pursue career in arts

Mar 27, 2019 | 5:25 PM

For musician Cole Knutson, music is a language he knows intuitively.

It flows out of him naturally, like breathing, when he sits down to practise on the piano or picks up his saxophone and cradles it under his arm ready to play. It was a big part of his life growing up and still is.

When he visited the Third Avenue United Church in North Battleford one afternoon and settled in behind the downstairs piano to practise a piece, it was like old times.

Dressed in a seersucker blazer with a handkerchief tucked neatly into its front-pocket, Knutson carefully pulls back the piano cover, leans forward and begins to play.

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While first attending Holy Family elementary school as a child, he said he became enamoured with the piano during music class, and started studying it at the age of 12, followed by the saxophone a little later.

“To me it was mind boggling that 10 fingers can do so much, and create so much colour and sound,” he said with a smile. “After the first couple of lessons I fell in love with it. I knew music was something I wanted to do, but I had a lot of work to do.”

He grew as a musician over the years and won many awards for his talents and effort.

North Battleford to Carnegie Hall may be a leap for many young musicians, but not for Knutson, who performed in the New York City venue in 2017. He was the only Canadian registered to play a solo performance at the event.

The ardent musician was recently accepted for a scholarship to study piano in an Artist Masters program at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, U.K. He hopes to start in the fall.

Knutson describes his desire to pursue a career in the arts as a “prairie boy’s dream.”

The 22-year-old is looking forward to going on to pursue a career performing as a recital pianist in the future.

“This is the kind of music I could do the rest of my life and be very content,” he said. “It’s very fulfilling, and I love to collaborate with others.”

Knutson was initially accepted to attend Guildhall School in 2018 but suffered a concussion after being hit by a car while riding his bicycle in Austria where he was studying piano last summer.

While he is receiving a scholarship to attend the school, he has set up a GoFundMe page in the hopes people in the community may be interested in showing their support to help cover his costs. Further, he hopes to hold a fundraiser concert in the summer with a fellow accomplished musician.

While back home in North Battleford, Knutson has been volunteering as a church musician and working at the Dekker Centre to be involved in the community. He also works at a pharmacy.

He recently completed a music degree at the University of Manitoba in saxophone performance. He said having the opportunity to study piano at an internationally recognized school will help him with his long range goal to have a successful career as a musician.

Cole Knutson at the piano at the Third Avenue United Church. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Knutson said there is strong community support in the Battlefords to help young people reach their goals and he is grateful for it.

His former piano teacher Jaya Hoy, who is now retired, is thrilled to see Knutson follow his dreams.

“I knew Cole was gifted from the moment I first started working with him,” she said.

“Being talented isn’t enough,” Hoy added. “You have to be hard working, disciplined, committed and you have to have support. He managed to pull all of that together.

“It’s a wonderful tradition in North Battleford for people to go on and be professional musicians.”

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW