Barbara Monahan: teacher, singer and musician, notably spearheading the Peterborough Pop Ensemble.
Our inductee (2012) received an Honours Degree in Music and Education from the University of Western Ontario. While at Western, she studied clarinet and voice, performed with the university choir, and served on the Student Council for the Faculty of Music.
Upon her return to Peterborough, she became a teacher of English and Music at Kenner Collegiate, her hometown school, taking the Kenner Band on ten musical excursions. Barb served as Director of Music at Grace United Church., also serving as vocalist with community bands such as A Little Bit Country, Montana Hearts and, for 15 years, Odyssey.
Barb Monahan penned, and produced shows for a host of different charities: composing songs, and music for the Peterborough Children’s Chorus, for the 2011 Pedal for Hope campaign, the 2010 International Dragon Boat Festival, and the 2004 Year of the Veteran.
With great gifts, come great responsibility. Barb Monahan, in her lifetime took that responsibility to heart, touching countless Peterborough audiences with her angelic voice, her inspired arrangements, her limitless passion and her vision – all combining to provide a soundtrack for this community that continues to resonate, to this day.
Barb Monahan died in 2019.