Yellowknife (May 07/04) - Kristina Jones started out on the road to operatic fame, but ended up in Yellowknife giving piano and voice lessons. She has no regrets.

"It's a really fun job; I wouldn't do anything else."

Jones studied music at university, and was on a full scholarship to become an opera singer, but the whole scene was, "just stuck up."

She found herself rebelling against the old school staunchness of classical musicians and eventually decided to give up performing for teaching.

"If it stops being fun, don't do it," Jones says.

Now she tries to make music fun for all her students.

"I never want anybody to be bored in their lesson. Everybody poses their own challenge musically," Jones said.

She has developed interesting strategies to teach different types of people. Often Jones will get her students to dance or march during the lesson.

"Marching is a great way to teach rhythm."

But it gets even stranger. Jones sometimes makes her students go to the end of the hall and start shouting.

Many of her adult students have preconceived notions that they simply cannot sing or perform, and this makes them self-conscious.

"Getting them to try is the hardest part," Jones said.

Shouting helps them relax and shake their fear of performing.

Jones loves seeing adults who have never been musically involved take an interest, but she loves teaching kids, too.

"Kids learn so fast," Jones said. Her unorthodox methods have shown great results in younger students. Some of them are already composers.

"A seven-year-old writing a piece of music is just awesome."

Jones has been surprised by the level of musical enthusiasm she found in Yellowknife after moving here two years ago from Victoria.

"I was amazed at the demand."

She says her Yellowknife students are more interested with just having fun.

In Victoria her students were often under pressure from their parents to excel, and learn exclusively one type of music.

But Kristina is a city girl at heart. She will be moving back to B.C. in June.

"It's been a good two years," Jones said. "I'll really miss the kids and people."