PORT ST. LUCIE PEOPLE
The OPERATIC TEACHER
When Samantha LaCroix’s mother was studying
piano in London, she met her future husband
in Austria on holiday. “He wrote love letters
every day until she returned to Vienna,” says
LaCroix. Their love story set the tone for LaCroix’s element
of romance.
LaCroix was born Samantha Andrea Polczer in Vienna,
studying with the Royal Academy of Ballet at age 5. She was
an only child. “My parents asked if I wanted a sister or a
horse. I chose a horse,” she says. By coincidence, the horse
was also named Samantha, an unusual name in Austria. “No
one knew how to pronounce it, and here were two Samanthas
together,” she adds.
One of LaCroix’s favorite childhood memories is being her
mother’s unofficial “warm-up act” before concert piano performances,
entertaining the stage crew and family. “I got to
play in all the great halls,” she says, “never formally taught,
learning through osmosis.” LaCroix became a piano teacher
herself at 15 when her mother “threw students my way,” she
says. “I didn’t charge them as much.”
When the family moved to Toronto, Canada, LaCroix
attended the School for the Performing Arts. “Austria had
given me classical training, but now I was exposed to jazz
and Broadway,” LaCroix says. Graduating early, she attended
Queens University for a year before transferring to Texas
Christian University. “It’s the home of the Van Cliburn International
Piano Competition, sort of the Olympics for pianists
held every four years,” she says. “I studied with the winner
of the 1985 competition, José Feghali.”
LaCroix’s goal was to become a great pianist and carry on
her mother’s legacy. She worked hard to obtain both undergraduate
40 Port St. Lucie Magazine
and graduate degrees in piano, anticipating a life
spent sitting on the piano bench, entertaining audiences.
And then she discovered opera.
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BY ELLEN GILLETTE
ELLEN GILLETTE
Samantha LaCroix exposes her students to music in non-traditional ways. Participating in a lesson are Creative Arts Academy of St. Lucie fifth-graders
Kaleel Dennis, foreground, and from left, Jamie Ballard, Kensley Hyppolite, Devin Sanchez and Gabriella Gonzalez.