I want to start with a big thank-you to everyone who donated to our Scholarship Fund this year! Thanks to you, we were able to give out $2550 in awards to some of our hardest working students to help pay for next year’s lesson tuition. A big thank-you also to Ken Hall for doing such a great job adjudicating the competition.
And now for our BIG piano news…. As many of you know, The Conservatory’s main performance piano is over 30 years old, and despite regular maintenance and repairs it is reaching the end of its life as a high end performance instrument. This is a piano which has been heavily used in its 30 years by our faculty and staff as well as numerous community groups including Nove Voce, the PG Symphony Orchestra, Trinity United Church, the PG and District Music Festival Association, Tapestry Singers and the BC Registered Music Teachers Association.
After consultation we determined that the best piano for our space would be a Yamaha C3X 6’1 grand piano. The total cost of upgrading to this piano is $62,238.88 which is a BIG number, but our BIG news is that we have raised all but $11,000 of that amount! The PG Community Foundation has given us $35,000, P.S. Pianos is donating $12,200 and both Trinity United Church and Integris have pledged $2000. We are now extending an invitation to the Conservatory’s community to be a part of this amazing legacy for both our students and audiences as well as numerous community groups who need a performance space with a high quality piano. You can join this amazing initiative by sponsoring a white piano key for $100, or a black piano key for $150, or a whole octave (including 7 white and 5 black keys) for $1450. Anyone who sponsors a key will be an honoured guest at our “Grand” reveal concert, and anyone who purchases an octave (or more) will have their name inscribed on the plaque as a major donor. I am so excited to see this project come to fruition that I will be personally sponsoring an octave. That only leaves 6 octaves (and 4 notes) for the rest of you, so act fast to secure your favourite piano keys! We'd also love your help getting the word out to local businesses who might want to sponsor a key (or octave)!
You can send us your sponsorship through Canada Helps, or save us a bit of processing fees by coming into the Conservatory in person and paying by cheque, cash or credit card. And keep your eye on the waiting room wall for our giant keyboard/donor board! Another exciting side-benefit of purchasing the C3X is that it will mean the Yamaha piano that is currently in the sanctuary will be moved into Elizabeth’s studio and her students will be able to play a grand piano at their lessons!
We’ve got a busy 5 weeks for Conservatory related concerts, and we’ve got more tickets to give away to the Community Arts Council’s Performance Series thanks once again to the generosity of Noreen and Jim Rustad!
May 5th at 2pm (at Vanier Hall) is the PGSO’s Dances Sacred and Profane featuring visiting pedal harpist Joy Yeh! Harp students are invited to a workshop on harp exams with Joy on May 4th. Contact me for more info!
May 10th at 7pm (at Knox) is the PG’s Cantata Singers Medieval Merriment concert - complete with food and costumes!
June 1st at 3pm (at the Conservatory) is our final faculty chamber concert of the year “Favourites and Friends” which will feature two collaborations with Method Dance as well as faculty favourites (as the name suggests😉)
June 6th at 7pm is our final student recital of the year
June 7th at 7pm is our recital for adult students
And for the free tickets… We’ve got four tickets to give away to the Tara Cheyenne and Calder White dance concert at the Playhouse on May 10th and two tickets available for the May 24th concert with the Jessica McMann Trio. Jessica McMann is an Alberta -based Cree (Cowessess, SK), multi-disciplinary artist. She interweaves land, Indigenous identity, history, and language throughout her dance and music creation/performance practice. A classically trained flutist, she holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Calgary and an MFA in Contemporary Arts from Simon Fraser University. We’ve heard that her performances are not to be missed!
Thanks for reading and for being a part of the Conservatory Community!