About Lifelong Music

In 1995, Ken Piirtoniemi wrote A Superior! Fanfare and A Superior! Suite as a means to involve his music students about Lake Superior Basin environmental issues. These were performed at the First Bi-National Student Environmental Symposium on Lake Superior, held in Ashland, Wisconsin, and have been performed by bands at almost every symposium to date in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ontario. Since then, Ken has continued composing, and officially registered his publishing company, Lifelong Music, in 2001.

Ken has presented workshops on Finale notation software for teachers and conducted rehearsals of his music at schools in North Bay and Sault Ste. Marie.

Ken has composed works for beginning, intermediate, senior concert band, numerous brass quartets, quintets, saxophone quartets, various other ensembles, wind and vocal solos with piano accompaniment, and literally hundreds of brass studies. His “Limited Experience” pieces for beginning bands focus on meeting student and teacher needs at this fundamental stage of musical development, particularly where the method books fall short.

Ken Piirtoniemi (b. 1951) Port Arthur, Ontario graduated from the University of Western Ontario at London (B. Mus. - Honours 1974 & B. Ed. 1976) Western Ontario Conservatory of Music at London (A. Mus. Performer’s Diploma - tuba 1974). His teachers included: Saville Shuttleworth, Charles Dalkert, Ralph Aldrich, Clifford Evens, and A.James Ford. Ken performed as principal tubist of the London Symphony Orchestra (Ontario), as tuba recitalist and as tubist of the London Brass Quintet, performing throughout Ontario. Ken was a low brass instructor for the Faculty of Music and the Conservatory of Western Ontario (now Conservatory Canada). He also performed for the Lakehead Symphony Orchestra and Sault Symphony. Currently, he plays tuba or trombone for the Steeltown Silver Band and trombone for the Sault Swing Band and Musical Comedy Guild.

For 30 years Ken taught grade 9 - 13 instrumental music including band, vocal, piano keyboard classes in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario at Korah, Bawating, and White Pines Collegiate & Vocational schools. He was one of 6 team members for the Lake Superior Basin project awarded the Reader’s Digest “National Outstanding Leaders in Education Award” in 1996. In 1997 he was awarded the OSSTF Leadership in Education Award.

Ken was a 5-year board member of Ontario Music Educators Association in charge of regional workshops. He was an instructor at the Ontario Music Leadership Camp at Lake Couchiching from 1980-84, and low brass instructor at Ontario Youth Music Camp in Beaverton, and Huntington Summer Music Camp in Sudbury.

Ken has been a brass instructor since 1998 at Algoma University and has also taught trumpet horn, trombone, tuba, clarinet, saxophone and percussion students at Algoma Conservatory since 1999. He holds a valid license from the Ontario College of Teachers.