Friends and Colleagues Pay Tribute to an Exceptional Teacher

Published on July 12, 2016

Over the last few weeks students, faculty, and friends have mourned the loss of Marina Geringas, described by President Dr. Peter Simon as “one of the most exceptional teachers in the history of The Royal Conservatory.” The beloved former faculty member passed away in her Toronto home on June 20, 2016. 

A native of the former Soviet Union, Ms. Geringas spent 30 years nurturing the talents of young pianists studying at our Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists and Oscar Peterson School of Music (formerly the Royal Conservatory School). She joined The Royal Conservatory in 1979, hired by former principal Ezra Schabas, who described her as an “outstanding teacher of gifted children.” 

Ms. Geringas was renowned for an approach to teaching that instilled a strong sense of discipline in her students, and which produced outstanding results. Her pupils included Andrew Burashko, Artistic Director of the Art of Time Ensemble, as well as acclaimed pianists Sonia Chan, Vadim Serebryany, and Erik Zivian. “As carefully and thoroughly worked-out as her method was, it was made truly effective because of her uncanny patience, meticulousness, and uncompromising commitment to very high standards,” Mr. Serebyany recalled in an obituary published in The Globe and Mail. 

Beyond her gifts as a teacher, Ms. Geringas was also treasured for the warmth she brought to The Royal Conservatory. Dr. Simon described her as “a person of immense kindness, sincerity, and generosity of spirit.” Similarly, faculty member and former student Dr. Andrea Botticelli praised her “sensitivity, humanity, and artistry,” adding that “she will be profoundly missed by her colleagues and many generations of former students.”