A Music Teacher’s Prayer

Moyah A. Gibson was born in Kingston, Jamaica. She migrated to the U.S. when she was nine years old. She studied violin with Maurice Freedman and later with Manual Compinsky. After flying around the world as a stewardess, purser and In-Flight Service Recruiter for Pan Am World Airways—based in Los Angeles, Miami and then New York—she returned to her homeland in 1980.

Since 1982 Ms. Gibson has taught Suzuki Violin in Kingston. She is the only violin teacher on the island who uses the Suzuki method exclusively. Her music workbook, Did You Know that Music Talks?, was published in 1992 by Dr. Reginald Fink. Her poem featured here, “A Music Teacher’s Prayer,” was written in 1990 as her Suzuki violin group, the Twinkle Ensemble, prepared for a performance.

Ms. Gibson founded The Jamaica Young People Symphony in 2005. The group incorporates Suzuki and traditional students from various studios and schools on the island. Local conductors direct rehearsals, and a guest conductor is solicited for each biennial concert season. Ms. Gibson notes that Miss Susan Ashby has long been a friend of the Jamaican Suzuki program and helped secure Mr. Fermin Segarra from Puerto Rico as guest conductor for the symphony’s 2007 season.

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