Instrument maker Catherine Thompson visits Pincher Creek Rotary

Catherine Thompson

Toni Lucas

Pincher Creek Rotary Club had Catherine Thompson as a guest speaker for their regular Thursday luncheon meeting on October 30.  Catherine spoke about being a musical instrument maker.  She spent three years and an estimated 1,500 miles traveling by horseback through Saskatchewan and Alberta.  She said that the areas she has visited are exciting and diverse, but the Porcupine Hills north of Pincher Creek "feel like home".

Thompson demonstrated a shamisen, a Japanese stringed instrument that she made herself which is played with a  plectrum similar to a guitar being played with a  pick. She is changing her focus as she now has the opportunity to go to Thailand to live.  Thompson has visited Thailand before and plans to take her enthusiasm her desire to explore.  She is excited by the prospect of a new country and becoming familiar with instruments native to the region.