Isaac Taylor a Class Act

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Isaac Taylor of Strathmore High School (SHS) is the Strathmore Times Class Act Award winner, as well as the Ken May Memorial Award winner for 2023.

The Strathmore Times Class Act Award is presented to an individual who has extraordinary accomplishments in one or more areas outside of academics, as well as who maintains a strong academic standing. 

The student’s quality of character is also considered, as it sets them apart or distinguishes them within their school and community.

“For the Class Act award, that was mostly outside of school. That was a lot of practicing and a lot of music training,” said Taylor. “My mother is very musical, so she put us all in music training at a very early age. I also took inspiration from my brother – he started violin and I wanted to be like him.”

Taylor has been involved in music with the piano and violin for nearly 14 years, and achieved the Level 10 Royal Conservatory of Music standing for both instruments in 2021.

This is the highest standing of music awarded by the Royal Conservatory of Music, and as was presented during the award ceremony, was comparable in achievement to that of a bachelor’s degree.

His awards were presented to him on June 8 during the annual SHS student award ceremony, where recipients, teachers, and sponsors gathered to honour student achievements. 

Taylor, as well as his peers, were not informed of their awards prior to the ceremony. They were simply requested to be in attendance.

“I was just notified through an email about a week prior to this and I was not told which awards or how many I was up for – just that I should show up,” said Taylor. “I am pretty excited because I was not really expecting the drama award because there is a lot of other talented performers who I did not know if I could compete with. I was pretty excited because I had applied for that scholarship.”

Taylor has previously participated in both the Airdrie and Strathmore Music Festivals, has received several other scholarships, as well as a provincial recommendation for music composition and violin.

“I am planning to do music performance, specifically piano performance through post-secondary, and then I want to go into composition after that,” added Taylor. “I would say that professionally, I would mostly like to do performing and touring. That is kind of what I want to pursue.”

Taylor advised other students who may have similar aspirations that his level of achievement is not something that has come lightly, and has required a tremendous amount of diligence, initiative, self-control and discipline. It is not something that can simply be reached through complacency.