A talented musician and music teacher, Anne Schaefer is also director of the Friends of Music Society’s Moodswing Chorus. The society supports people with diagnosed mental illness and community members and runs a host of virtually free music programs from the Eric Martin Pavilion at the Royal Jubilee Hospital.
Victoria News: If you weren’t in your current career, what would you be doing?
Anne Schaefer: If I wasn’t in my current career I would probably be a barista, a clay sculptor or a circus performer.
VN: What do you like about being a woman?
AS: Wow, I really Love EVERYTHING about being a woman! Truly everything!
VN: What have you learned as you mature that you’d like to share with a ‘younger you’?
AS: I would share with my younger self to lighten up – don’t take it so seriously! Have more fun!!
VN: What is the one thing you would never be without?
AS: I would prefer to never be without music. Music heals me, transforms me, purifies me, grounds me and connects me, and I believe it has saved my life many times over!
VN: How do you find balance in your life?
AS: I go to Nature to find balance. I hike in the woods or walk by the ocean or lie on the rocks. Very much like music, it heals, purifies, grounds, connects, transforms and brings me back into balance without fail. Also a lifesaver!