The love of teaching and music inspired Mike and Karen Langlois to get involved in the Prince Albert arts scene, but a love for the community kept them here.
The husband and wife duo spent more than 20 years teaching and directing in Prince Albert. On Friday, they were honoured for those efforts with induction into the Prince Albert Arts Hall of Fame.
“We were surprised and very honoured,” Karen said in an interview the day before Friday’s Hall of Fame gala. “It’s very humbling to be recognized like that in the community. We’re very grateful.”
Mike is a longtime Prince Albert musician. He began playing in rock and country bands as a teenager, but became a prolific performer in multiple genres. He earned an Associate Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Toronto, and piano performance diplomas from Trinity College London.
In Prince Albert, he became known as the lead singer and guitar player for The Goodfella’s while also playing lead guitar for classic rock band Rewind. He was also one half of the duo Turned Down with Darcy Sander.
Karen also has an extensive musical education background, having completed a Bachelor of Music degree with Great Distinction in Vocal Performance from the University of Saskatchewan and an Associate Diploma in Piano Performance from Trinity College London.
In Prince Albert, she was an active member of the Prince Albert Kiwanis Music Festival board in both vocal and piano disciplines, and kept busy teaching private piano, theory, and history of studio to local students, several of which went on to receive gold medals from the Royal Conservatory of Music.
For both Karen and Mike, however, their biggest love was the Broadway North Theatre Company. Mike was the musical director for 11 Broadway North musicals, including Wizard of Oz in 2001, Footloose in 2005, and Cabaret in 2006, while Karen worked as music director on eight Broadway North junior musicals.
“(We were) able to work with these young professionals and learn from them and we definitely had these great mentors who came from all over Canada,” Karen said. “We had these great experiences working with them. That was probably the big drawing card, being able to work with those people.”
Karen said the support they’ve received from Prince Albert’s Arts Community is a big part of what keeps them coming back.
“You really get to know all the people in the community,” she said. “Mike has been here since he was, I think, 10 years old, and I’ve been here since I was 21 or so, and the community and the connections that you make, that’s definitely the biggest part of just continuing to put our work and efforts and passion back into the arts, and not wanting to go somewhere else or put all that effort into a different endeavor. It’s definitely those people and those connections that you make.”
Karen said teaching Prince Albert youth has been one of the highlights of her arts career. She said it was always interesting to follow the careers of the students they taught at Broadway North or in private lessons.
“It doesn’t have to necessarily be music, but just to see what kind of great human beings they’ve grown into, that’s been a huge part of living here,” she said.
Karen added that it’s “quite humbling” to be inducted into the Prince Albert Arts Hall of Fame with so many other great artists.
“Some of those people have been some of our teachers and some of our members, so to be alongside them is just … there’s no words to even express how much that means to us,” she said. “It’s pretty marvelous and pretty fantastic.”
The Langlois’ were inducted alongside musician Dennis Adams, drawing and painting instructor Christina Thoen, and visual artist Cheryl Ring. Friday’s Arts Hall of Fame Gala was not finished by press time.
