Hi Jill, Not to quibble with the substance of your posting, but to avoid possible future confusion, I believe your use of the term "Maestro of Music" as a form of degree or qualification may be a misunderstanding (if indeed that is what you meant.) The term "Maestro" is a form of respect conferred by general consent of the music community to an individual, based on their musical ability. Most frequently used to indicate respect for a conducer (and less frequently to a violin soloist) it is only an unofficial (social) qualification. I have never heard of anyone being granted such a title in the form of a degree in Britain, Canada or the US although it is possible it is used in other music communities. The music degrees issued by universities in the named countries follow the same form as all of the arts degrees, i.e., Bachelor and Master with all the sub classes and specialities as additions and qualifiers. Although rare, it is possible that an individual be granted an honorary degree in recognition of their innate musicality and work in a musical field. A rare honour indeed but may be the case here since it is doubtful that Eric would be able to find the time required to work his way through a university music degree course. I stand to be corrected on this but, I believe the term Maestro is only used to describe musicians so it would be fine to simply describe Eric as a Maestro without the "of music" appellation which raise connotations of a formal degree. Otherwise, you would need to discover his most senior formal degree and quote that to give him his full title. Not wishing to be stuffy or officious. Just hoping to help you avoid future misunderstanding over a rather specialist form of address. :-) Malcolm Archive CD Books Canada Inc. President: Malcolm Moody PO Box 11 Manotick Ontario, K4M 1A2 Canada. (613) 692-2667 WEB SITE: http://www.ArchiveCDBooks.ca > Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:24:18 +0100 > From: "jwyze1@gmail.com" <jwyze1@gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [NS-L] Eric ARMSTRONG - Stellarton, Pictou - 1912-1951 > To: "Nova scotia" <NOVA-SCOTIA-L@rootsweb.com> > Message-ID: > <d9bccb8b0706201324w7a48f73pe4bdf432e74fa0ac@mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > To everyone who thankfully responded to my original request for > information about Eric Armstrong. > > You might be interested to know that today I received the obituary for > Eric > Armstrong which was very interesting and confirmed that - as well as > being a > coal miner - Eric was also a musician. > > My mother had always told me that Eric was a Maestro of Music and had > diplomas and certificates for his musical achievements. Luckily, I > have a > photograph of Eric with his violin. > > As Eric was a coal miner and the son of a Seaman, it was difficult to > believe that he really was an accomplished music and violin teacher, as > stated on his marriage certificate to his first wife. However, the > obituary > stated that Eric was an authority on music and he had composed several > songs > as well as writing frequent articles for newspapers and magazines. > > The obituary also confirmed that he was survived by a son and a > daughter. > > On June 27th I am having a letter published with a photograph of Eric > in the > Advocate. > > Without all of your help I may never have discovered any of this and I > am > very grateful to you all. Thanks again. > > Kind regards, Jill Wiseman

Hi Malcolm Thank you for the explanation, I appreciate your comments. Initially I was told by mother (who was told by her mother Ella) that Eric was a Maestro of Music, but had always struggled with the concept of how a coal miner could achieve this status. His marriage certificate stated that he was a violin teacher and his twin daughter's birth certificates stated that he was a teacher of music. Unfortunately, all of Eric's diplomas were burnt by his daughter Ella after her mother died. My mother said they were scrolls, tied with ribbon, covered in blue and silver stars, which she had tried to retrieve from the grate. Ella was quite bitter that her father had taken her younger sister to Canada (Ella's twin sister died) and she was placed into an orphanage. Unfortunately, in a fit of anger, all of the evidence was destroyed. Thanks again Malcolm. Regards, Jill On 6/21/07, Malcolm Moody <malcolm@archivecdbooks.ca> wrote: > > Hi Jill, > > Not to quibble with the substance of your posting, but to > avoid > possible future confusion, I believe your use of the term "Maestro of > Music" as a form of degree or qualification may be a misunderstanding > (if indeed that is what you meant.) > > The term "Maestro" is a form of respect conferred by general > consent > of the music community to an individual, based on their musical > ability. Most frequently used to indicate respect for a conducer (and > less frequently to a violin soloist) it is only an unofficial (social) > qualification. I have never heard of anyone being granted such a title > in the form of a degree in Britain, Canada or the US although it is > possible it is used in other music communities. > > The music degrees issued by universities in the named countries > follow > the same form as all of the arts degrees, i.e., Bachelor and Master > with all the sub classes and specialities as additions and qualifiers. > > Although rare, it is possible that an individual be granted an > honorary degree in recognition of their innate musicality and work in a > musical field. A rare honour indeed but may be the case here since it > is doubtful that Eric would be able to find the time required to work > his way through a university music degree course. > > I stand to be corrected on this but, I believe the term Maestro is > only used to describe musicians so it would be fine to simply describe > Eric as a Maestro without the "of music" appellation which raise > connotations of a formal degree. Otherwise, you would need to discover > his most senior formal degree and quote that to give him his full > title. > > Not wishing to be stuffy or officious. Just hoping to help you > avoid > future misunderstanding over a rather specialist form of address. :-) > > Malcolm > > Archive CD Books Canada Inc. > President: Malcolm Moody > PO Box 11 > Manotick > Ontario, K4M 1A2 > Canada. > (613) 692-2667 > WEB SITE: http://www.ArchiveCDBooks.ca > > > Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:24:18 +0100 > > From: "jwyze1@gmail.com" <jwyze1@gmail.com> > > Subject: Re: [NS-L] Eric ARMSTRONG - Stellarton, Pictou - 1912-1951 > > To: "Nova scotia" <NOVA-SCOTIA-L@rootsweb.com> > > Message-ID: > > <d9bccb8b0706201324w7a48f73pe4bdf432e74fa0ac@mail.gmail.com> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > > > To everyone who thankfully responded to my original request for > > information about Eric Armstrong. > > > > You might be interested to know that today I received the obituary for > > Eric > > Armstrong which was very interesting and confirmed that - as well as > > being a > > coal miner - Eric was also a musician. > > > > My mother had always told me that Eric was a Maestro of Music and had > > diplomas and certificates for his musical achievements. Luckily, I > > have a > > photograph of Eric with his violin. > > > > As Eric was a coal miner and the son of a Seaman, it was difficult to > > believe that he really was an accomplished music and violin teacher, as > > stated on his marriage certificate to his first wife. However, the > > obituary > > stated that Eric was an authority on music and he had composed several > > songs > > as well as writing frequent articles for newspapers and magazines. > > > > The obituary also confirmed that he was survived by a son and a > > daughter. > > > > On June 27th I am having a letter published with a photograph of Eric > > in the > > Advocate. > > > > Without all of your help I may never have discovered any of this and I > > am > > very grateful to you all. Thanks again. > > > > Kind regards, Jill Wiseman > > ---------------------------------------- > Basic List Commands: > > 1. To post to the list > Send a message to: > NOVA-SCOTIA-L@rootsweb.com > > 2. How to unsubscribe > a. List mode: Send a message to NOVA-SCOTIA-L- > request@rootsweb.com that contains only the word > unsubscribe > > b. Digest mode: Send a message to NOVA-SCOTIA-D- > request@rootsweb.com that contains only the word > unsubscribe > > 3. How to subscribe > Send an email containing only the word > subscribe > to NOVA-SCOTIA-L-request@rootsweb.com > > 4. How to change to Digest mode > a. Unsubscribe from List mode (2.a. above) > b. Subscribe to Digest mode > Send an email containing only the word > subscribe > to NOVA-SCOTIA-D-request@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NOVA-SCOTIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- Regards, Jill