FInd Your Music!

YOUR COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL: OVER THIRTY-FIVE YEARS OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY MUSIC EDUCATION. FIND YOUR MUSIC!

Friday, April 19, 2013

CHORDIAL NOTES - APRIL/MAY 2013



conservatory Students Triumph at the  Upper Island Music Festival
Working hard to develop their skills is what helps our students shine at the Upper Island Music Festival every year, and this year is particularly shiny! The following students played beautifully at the UIMF Honours Concert at St. Andrews Church on Sunday April 14: Clif Clemotte and Chloë Harbattle, violin students of Karl Rainer; Uei-Young Jung, flute student of Cindy Speelman; Lilu Scott and Akela Szasz as well as Britanny Hannah, voice students of Christine McMahon; and the Nanaimo Youth Choir directed by Marian Smith.  Pippa Williams, piano and oboe instructor at NCM, attended the concert (and accompanied students) said "I was super impressed with the level of these students. They were fantastic!"

In addition the following students were awarded bursaries for their hard work!
Vocal: Lilu Scott and Alekla Szasz (Christine McMahon)
Brass and Woodwinds: Uei-Young Jung, Ella Hannesson and Andrea Stachow (Cindy Speelman)
Strings: Chloë Hardbattle, Ben Lange and Jasmine Mather (Karl Rainer), Serena Jack (Marjorie Cullerne), Ethan McDermid (James Mark), Joo-Young Jung (Veronica Wagner)
Guitar: Karolina Malinowska, Alexander Kolodinsky (Patrick Olmsted)

Finally the following students have the honour of being UIMF Provincial Representatives May 26-30 in Chilliwack:
Brittany Hannah, Senior Classical Voice
Clif Clemotte, Intermediate Violin
Maddy Erickson, Junior Violin (James Mark)

Festival of Recitals
June 1, 2013 10 AM to 5:30 PM
The sign up sheets are filling up, so don't forget to put your name in! Scholarships will be awarded at the event, refreshments and silent auction...it's also our 35th birthday celebration!

SUMMER JAZZ INTENSIVE IS BACK!!
AUGUST 20-23, 2013
Thanks to the enormous success of our first inaugural Summer Jazz Intensive, we are pleased to announce that we will continue the program this August.  Led by Juno award-winning musician and composer Christine Jensen, a top notch faculty of professional jazz musicians will guide beginner to intermediate-advanced students through the ropes of improvisation, instrumental techniques, ensemble playing, and more. Stay tuned for details, including more about the Jazz Superstar concert.

INSIDE YOUR STUDIO!
·         Cindy Speelman - flute, recorder: Congratulations to all the flute students who performed beautifully at the Upper Island Music Festival - Uei-Young Jung, Ryley Hounsome, Andrea Stachow, Jake McDermid and Ella Hannesson. Congratulations to Marion Drage who completed her Grade 3 flute exam in January.
·         Christine McMahon - voice: Christine McMahon is proud of voice students Brittany Hannah, Elizabeth Herman, Lilu Scott and Akela Szasz for their prizewinning work in the Music Festival. Brittany was chosen as Provincial Rep. (Senior Division) for the fourth year in a row, and performed in the Honours Concert at St. Andrew's United on April 14th.  In the Adult Open Division, Elizabeth Herman received four Gold medals and one Silver.  The adjudicator, Kevin Zakresky, was so enchanted with the 'Letter Duet' of Elizabeth and Brittany from The Marriage of Figaro that he requested an encore performance, and the singers repeated the entire scene, much to the delight of the audience!
·         Teresa Borek - piano: Congratulations to Laura Stachow who performed in the Upper Island Music Festival in March and received 1st place in Post-Romantic class and 1st place in Concert Group class.
·         Marian Smith - Nanaimo Youth Choir: The Nanaimo Youth Choir opened the Honours Concert of the Upper Island Music Festival on April 14th by leading the singing of O Canada. Following they performed their repertoire that they received a mark of 95 for during the festival competition in March. They were recommended to the Provincial festival as representatives from the local festival. The NYC have been first place winners at the Provincials for the last three years. On April 17th both the Concert choir and the Junior choir presented a concert at the Port Theatre as part of the Schools on Stage program sponsored by the Port Theatre and Island Savings. The audience consisted of 760 school children and the remainder of the seats were filled with adults. The choristers consider this to be one of the highlights in their singing season!
·         Marilyn Rummel - harp: High excitement in the NC harpworld this month. First Hayley Farenholtz - gr. 6 - and Kaleigh Stroink - Gr. 8 - were awarded Gold Medals by the RCM for their excellent exams last spring. (photo on Facebook) Both of them, along with other members of the NC harp ensemble will be travelling to Vancouver next week to participate in the Vancouver Kiwannis Music Festival harp classes. Our first road trip! And on a sad note we mark the passing of Rella Meston, who was enthusiastic member of the adult harp ensemble. Rella was also an administrator of the Nanaimo Conservatory in its early days. Her memorial service will be help Sat. April 27, and Marilyn Rummel and the adult group will play harps in her memory there.

In Other News...

MUSICAL THEATRE
Our Spring Break Musical Theatre Worshop with Joëlle Rabu and Rick Scott was incredible and much fun was had by all! Students worked all week at the Conservatory on music written by Rick, which Joëlle created wonderful choreography and staging for. Even the shy students seemed to have a great time. The performance at Nanaimo Centre Stage was superb. Check out our Facebook page for lots of great pictures!

JABLONSKI SOLO PIANO CONCERT
The Krzysztof Jablonski concert has been celebrated as one of the best concerts in Nanaimo in many, many years! Plus this fundraising concert raised over $6,000 for the Conservatory which has been a local not-for-profit charity for 35 years. Thank you to everyone who helped make this concert a smashing success. In addition, Mr. Jablonkski gave a wonderful master class to senior students from all over the area.

Conservatory Student and Faculty Events
Clif Clemotte, Jasmine Mather and Maddy Erickson will be playing a fundraising concert raising money to offset provincial trip expenses and summer music course tuition. The performance will take place on Friday May 10th at St. Pauls Anglican Church , 100 Chapel Street, at 7:30 PM. Sharon Wishart will be accompanying. Admission is by donation, tickets available at the door. Please cone hear some great music and support our student artists!

Please note that our Faculty concerts are finished for this year due to all the other wonderful things we have going on! Check back in the fall.


COMMUNITY EVENTS
Vancouver Island Symphony Community Day  - FREE Family Events with the VI Symphony
Saturday, April 20, Port Theatre - Reserve your Complimentary Ticket: 250-754-8550
Musical Instrument Zoo (11 a.m. -12 noon); Noteworthy Kids Music Club Family Event (11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.); Open Rehearsal (12:30-1:30 p.m.)
Lulu Performing Arts Society (Gabriola Island) presents
Adrian Brendel, cello, Michelle Mares, piano,
Phoenix Auditorium, Gabriola, May 2, 2013, 7:30 pm
This is a very special concert by two world class musicians. We had them last season. They gave us a beautiful concert then. They will play Beethoven, Bartok and Schubert.
The Vancouver Island Symphony presents
Birds of a Feather
with Guest Artist: Paolo Bortolussi, Flute; Conductor: Pierre Simard
Saturday, April 20, 7:30 p.m.; Port Theatre, Nanaimo; Tickets: 250-754-8550 www.porttheatre.com
(Pre and Post-Concert Talks)
Soaring with the sound of birds and nature -  On Saturday, April 20, the Port Theatre will be filled to the rafters with the beauteous melodies of birds and nature in a fascinating blend of music that creates images of the natural life in the far north, birds in flight, and tranquil European pastures. And in the lobby – displays about birds.
Island Bel Canto Sings of Love and Nature
Island Bel Canto Singers will evoke the senses with song in their upcoming concert In the Garden, Songs of Love and Nature on May 5. The program takes gems from many genres. Down by the Salley Gardens is a traditional Irish song with words by poet William Butler Yeats. Eidelweiss by Rodgers and Hammerstein is a much-loved air from “The Sound of Music”.  Among the familiar pieces, there is also an unusual and hauntingly beautiful contemporary composition by young American composer Eric Whitacre – Five Hebrew Love Songs. Nanaimo Ecumenical Centre, 6234 Spartan Road, Sunday, May 5, at 7:30pm. Tickets $15, children under twelve are free. For more information, visit the choir’s website or call Kim at 250-591-7733.
Yellow Point Singers with guests Panache! (Kathleen Darby's ensemble) present an afternoon of choral music Sunday April 28 at 2:30 PM at the Oceanview Community Church in Ladysmith. Tickets $10.


CALENDAR

May 7     Chorfest begins
May 14   Suzuki Violin Recital
June 1    Festival of Recitals / 35th Anniversary
June 6    Suzuki Piano Recital