Life of song

I learned so much from our short conversation and was struck by the metaphor and meaning that Dr. Rejskind offered through the stories of her love of choral music. “The choirs and ensembles are greater than the sum of their parts, and everyone brings a unique voice to the stage. ”As she spoke, I could feel energy radiate from her, the way we feel as audience members experiencing the euphony of sounds that come with ensemble performances. If you have ever experienced a such a performance, you know the profound impact it can have. “We embody the depth of emotion on stage, bringing meaning and connection to ourselves and to the audience.”

“Music just speaks.” Transcending language, culture, and background, music has a way of bringing people together. “There is room for interpretation and the experience of feeling our way through the music, together.” Whether speaking about specific events, rehearsals, or moments, one of the throughlines in our conversation was the importance of community and our collective experiences. “Our work together is a culmination of trust building over time.” Community building is important to Margot and is at the center of everything she does. “There is no such thing as a solo conductor!” 

Dr. Rejskind grew up in Montreal and her formative training started there before she moved to the United States to complete her master’s and doctoral work in conducting. Both her academic and professional experiences have always centered around music. “All humans have a voice, and I am interested in how we use it.”

As a voice teacher passionate about vocal pedagogy, Dr. Rejskind was the Director of Choirs for the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto from 2006 to 2013. She then moved to PEI where she was a professor at the University of Prince Edward Island. After nearly a decade in that role, she has moved away from academic work into union work. All along the way, she has been an active and instrumental person in choral music on the Island. She is the founder and artistic director of Luminos Ensemble, a chamber choir and orchestra; the artistic director of Forte Men’s Choir; and the music director of Island Choral Society. She also sits on many boards and offers private voice lessons. If something doesn’t already exist, Margot will help build it. “Forte Men’s Choir was a birthday gift to my late husband who wanted there to be a men’s choir, so we made it happen!”

The world can be hard and heavy, and we all turn to the arts to cope and connect. One of the upcoming performances by the Luminos Ensemble is Annelies: The Voice of Anne Frank. “It has been a remarkable experience to do this show at this time in our history, seeing so many parallels from Anne Frank’s time to today.” Despite, or perhaps because of, the difficulties around us, Margot says “my work feels like a panacea, working to make things beautiful. We are just trying to get to beautiful.”

Though the music they sing can be challenging and complex, Margot’s humour, generosity, and tender touch provides space for fun and creativity to thrive. “We have so much fun at rehearsals!” It is always so impressive and inspiring to hear how people and groups come together to create beautiful art together. It can seem so daunting, even impossible, to imagine getting the hang of difficult music but “they just show up and trust the process.”

Under Dr. Rejskind’s leadership, Luminos Ensemble was awarded the Choral Recording of the year from the East Coast Music Awards in 2024, and they have received multiple award nominations from Music PEI. Margot is also a regular music contributor to CBC Mainstreet. Her commitment to and passion for music is evidenced in all she does. “There is art and beauty in the world that is brought to life through song.”

With such an impressive background and so many incredible experiences behind her, I was curious if there were highlights from Dr. Rejskind’s career so far. Her answer was a beautiful reminder to be present and appreciative of what is happening in the moment: “I’m always in love with the thing [show, event, experience] that just happened.”