A talented harp player, musician, and mother of two, Hillsdale Adjunct Instructor of Music Amy Ley McIntosh died Nov. 9 at age 49 after a two-year battle with breast cancer. The family held a “celebration of life” ceremony Nov. 24 in Windsor, Ontario.

“She was just always very upbeat, and she was kind to her students,” Professor of Music James Holleman said. “She was a mom, and I think those instincts took over as a teacher and the type of students we have. She also had very high standards for the students. She didn’t back off on being able to push them.”

Ley was born to Emily Rich and Thomas Ley Nov. 8, 1975 in Lansing, Michigan. From her childhood, she loved music and played the piano, violin, and harp. She went on to study music at the University of Michigan, where she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. During her time in college, she came to believe that playing the harp “was something, from the depths of my heart, that I had to do,” according to her obituary.

“Amy touched the lives of countless people through her brilliant musicianship, immense humanity, and unending warmth. In her hands, ‘the harp, that most heavenly of instruments, glowed even brighter,’” her obituary reads.

She was married to Andrew McIntosh for 22 years and they have two adult children, Dylan and Fiona. 

Ley was the principal harpist for the Flint Symphony Orchestra and the Windsor Symphony Orchestra. She was a founder and the Artistic Director of 4th Wall Music, a Windsor-based group of musicians passionate about sharing chamber music with local audiences. 

She also taught harp students at her home studio, the University of Windsor, the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and at Hillsdale since the early 2000s.

Holleman said after going to college and playing professionally in Michigan, he had known who Ley was. He said when a harp teacher position opened up at the college a few years into his role as chair of the music department, he contacted Ley and hired her for the role.

Senior Magdalena Shaltanis was one of about eight students in Ley’s Hillsdale studio last year. Shaltanis played with Ley since her freshman year and said lessons with Ley were always a highlight of her week.

“Her positivity was so nice,” Shaltanis said. “Anytime I saw her, I knew she was going to be happy.”

Shaltanis said the first few minutes of her lessons were typically spent talking about the past week or discussing the stories behind the music Shaltanis was practicing.

“She would always have stories about pieces that we were playing or anecdotes about when she was in grad school,” Shaltanis said. “She was a good storyteller.”

Every Monday, Ley would commute from her home in Ontario and drive across the Ambassador Bridge to get to the college, which Shaltanis said demonstrated Ley’s loyalty to her students in Hillsdale.

“She drove down from Canada every week,” Shaltanis said. “Even all of last year when she was going through chemotherapy and having a lot of different difficulties, she was still making that drive every week.”

Shaltanis said Ley’s love for harp and for music shone in her willingness to constantly teach new students.

“She was always encouraging people who are just starting out,” Shaltanis said. “I would always tell my friends, ‘my teacher always wants to take on new students.’ So she would take on adult students or seniors or freshmen. If they showed interest, she was always so happy to take them on. She was like, ‘yes, let me show you.’”

Adjunct Instructor of Music Debbi Wyse, who retired as a piano teacher from the college in 2021, began taking lessons from Ley in 2003 and took lessons until her retirement. Wyse said with her busy schedule as a professor, she was often unable to practice harp as much as she would like, but Ley was always graceful.

“She had a very bubbly personality. She had a great smile. She was beautiful, she was joyful, she was encouraging. She was always positive. She was very understanding,” Wyse said. “If I had a bad week practicing, she would go, ‘Oh, don’t worry about it. Let’s just play today.’ She was an amazing musician.” 

Ley continued to teach at the college until last spring, when her health declined to the point that she was unable to teach any longer.

Shaltanis said even when Ley’s cancer took a heavier toll on her, Ley always tried to remain positive.

“Obviously nobody is happy all the time, and in the later years, she wasn’t so energetic, but she always made an effort,” Shaltanis said.

The number of students in Ley’s studio varied from year to year, but according to Shaltanis, last year Ley had around eight.

Wyse said one of the reasons she wanted to learn harp initially was to be able to play for those on their deathbed. She went on to play at Ley’s funeral.

“I like to just mess around on the harp a little bit, and a person that my husband and I knew quite well was dying and asked me to play for her funeral, and I said, ‘Yeah, what do you want me to play?’ And she said, ‘Jesus Loves Me.’ I was like, ‘Oh, it’s just so simple and kind of boring,’” Wyse said. “So I did my own arrangement of ‘Jesus Loves Me.’ And then the next lesson, I played it for Amy, and she said, ‘Oh, you can play that for my funeral.’”

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to be made in Ley’s honor to the Windsor Cancer Centre Foundation, the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, or the Flint Symphony Orchestra.

“She leaves a hole,” Holleman said. “We’ve lost other faculty over the years, and they always leave a hole. There’s always a spot in our hearts.”