Madii Schomogyi’s career in music as a singer, guitarist and pianist is not only a story of a young person doing what she loves for a living.
It’s also a story of finding a new passion after her original career plans came to an unexpected end.
“I wanted to be a soccer player originally,” Schomogyi told SooToday.
“That was my goal. I went to see World Cup games. I played on rep soccer teams here and I went to a soccer camp out east.”
Then an injury changed everything.
“I tore a ligament in my knee and had surgery. Then I tore it again and had another surgery so soccer was out of the cards for me,” Schomogyi said.
With her mother’s urging, Schomogyi joined Mustang Sally, Korah Collegiate’s student pop/rock group when she was in Grade 9.
“My mom said ‘just try it.’ I went to my very first practice and from that point on I ate all my lunches in the group’s classroom. Sometimes I would even skip class to go hang out there and do more music. Immediately I was super into it.”
Schomogyi appreciates the encouragement received from Greg Ryckman, the Korah Collegiate music teacher who guides Mustang Sally.
“Mr. Ryckman had me sing Zombie by The Cranberries and he wanted me to play electric guitar with it. He said ‘you can do this.’ I’m really grateful for that. He was awesome. He was definitely a huge part of my high school experience.”
She enjoyed touring with the band despite the tiredness that comes with travelling.
“At the end of a tour I thought ‘that was exhausting.’ But at the same time I thought I can’t wait to do that again,” Schomogyi said.
She also became a Korah Collegiate Musical Theatre student, instructed by now-retired musical theatre teacher Denine Williams, and appeared in Korah productions of Grease, The Little Mermaid and The Sound of Music.
“Mrs. Williams encouraged me to go into musical theatre. Theatre was probably more spooky than music because you’re learning lines as well as singing. It was tough at first but it was really nice. I enjoyed it,” Schomogyi said.
She started taking voice lessons at Case's Music and learned piano and guitar.
She’s also grateful to her mother for buying her a keyboard.
Now 22, Schomogyi will be graduating from Algoma University in the spring with a Bachelor of Arts in Music.
“I’ll be having a big graduation recital at The Loft, at the Algoma Conservatory of Music.”
Schomogyi is proud of her successful transition from soccer to music.
“I wasn’t a Conservatory kid, that’s for sure,” she chuckled.
“Music definitely required some effort. Singing came a lot easier than instruments but I always wanted to do better. I would search how to make my singing sound better and with the instruments the hardest part was reading sheet music.”
The hard work has paid off and Schomogyi - known professionally as Miss Madii - has played with her group Lime at local eateries and clubs as well as last summer’s Rotaryfest.
She lists Pink, Queen, Kelly Clarkson, Laufey - an Icelandic-Chinese jazz and pop singer - and Canadian indie band Walk off the Earth among her music scene favourites.
“I feel that my favourite music is anything with a band so I like rock music. I started my own band and being able to share that onstage and having other people to bounce it off is really awesome.
"Rock music is fun for me but I also really like the challenge of theatre pieces. At Algoma University I’ve done a lot of classical pieces, singing in other languages. I love the challenge of that for sure but my favourite is rock.”
She started writing her own songs in high school.
“It didn’t come easy but I worked at it. I won a songwriting contest and the prize was that you got to record a song with Dustin Jones (local singer/songwriter/producer). That’s become a huge outlet for me. It’s like journaling.”
Since graduating from Korah in 2020, Schomogyi has worked as a music instructor at Case’s Music.
“They were doing interviews. I came in and I had already taken lessons here and they knew that I was doing shows. They knew who I was as a musician so during the interview I was hired.”
She now teaches music to all ages - including babies.
“I have a baby group, from newborn to one year old, on Wednesday mornings. I sing a good morning song to them when they come in. I have little tambourines they can play with and it helps with their development. I’ll play some songs on the guitar and they look just mesmerized.
"On Saturdays I have ages one to three and they can clap their hands and make sounds at that point. And I have an age group of three to six. It’s games, and we incorporate rhythm and theory they can comprehend. We have ukuleles and some hand drumming.
"It’s just to get them exposed to music in a fun and safe environment until they eventually decide if they want to take lessons.”
She also teaches older children as well as adults in the evenings.
After receiving the gift of music, teaching is a way for Schomogyi to give back.
“Something that’s super rewarding is when you see that child having that lightbulb moment of ‘this is really fun!’ To think I could impact their musical journey is awesome.”
Schomogyi is currently recording an album of her own material with Dustin Jones as her producer.
She describes her songs as “folky with a country twang.”
“My university graduation recital is in April so I’m thinking I’ll release my album at that time,” she said.
“I love teaching but to be able to just perform would be awesome. What my plan is right now is to wrap up my school, teach for another couple of years and then do small tours where I’ll go for a weekend or a week somewhere down in southern Ontario. I know I want to do some travelling.”
Schomogyi feels fortunate for finding a new path after injuries sidelined her from sports.
“I thank God that I have music. I went from soccer being my dream as a 14-year-old kid, soccer being my everything, to suddenly having nothing to put my passion into, no outlet of any sort.
"So it was really, really good that I was able to find singing and music. I don’t know where I would be if I hadn’t dived into this.”