Advanced Voice Workshop
An opportunity for advanced students and professional singers to explore all aspects of their performance, with coaching and instruction from senior voice faculty. Using a masterclass format, AVW focuses on technique, style, interpretation, bodywork and presence to create powerful performances and empowered performers.
Term 1: Sep 18 - Dec 4
Term 2: Jan 29 - Apr 23
Tue • 1:00 - 3:00pm • $504/term
Downtown
Acceptance is by audition/interview.
Auditions will be held in the week preceding the beginning of each term.
Optional extra coaching is available
Nancy Argenta
With a repertoire spanning three centuries, Nancy Argenta has been hailed not only as the supreme Handel soprano of our age but also for her performances of works by such diverse composers as Mahler, Mozart, Schubert and Schoenberg. Conductors with whom she has collaborated include Ozawa, Gardiner, Davis, Blomstedt, Pinnock, Hogwood and Norrington. She has sung with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, and the Toronto, Montreal, and Sydney Symphony Orchestras.
In opera, concert and recital, she has appeared at many leading festivals including Aix-en-Provence, Salzburg, Mostly Mozart, and the BBC (…)
Ingrid Attrot
Hailed as ‘a singer with uncommon theatrical sensibility and musical intelligence’, soprano Ingrid Attrot has appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra with conductors such as Dutoit, Marriner, Willcocks, Pinnok and Hickox. Her work with conductor Richard Hickox has included performances of the Britten War Requiem, Peter Grimes (Ellen Orford), and Beethoven’s Fidelio (Leonora). Opera companies with which she has worked include the English National Opera (as Miss Jessel in Turn of the Screw), Opera Northern Ireland (as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni), and Pacific Opera (…)
Robert Holliston
Robert Holliston studied at the Victoria Conservatory of Music under Robin Wood and Winifred Scott Wood, and at the University of British Columbia under Robert Rogers. As an accompanist and chamber player he has performed throughout Canada and the USA, England and New Zealand, and has been heard frequently on CBC-Radio. He has recorded CDs with the popular salon ensemble Viveza, trombonist Ian McDougall, tenor Ken Lavigne, his brother Tom Holliston, Show Business Giants, and members of the Hornby Island Ensemble. Robert has collaborated with many of Canada’s leading singers, including Richard Margison, Benjamin Butterfield, Judith Forst, Nathalie Paulin, Susan (…)
Introductory Music Classes for Adults
Orff for Adults, Fun & Easy Piano Adventures, and Hawaiian Music Adventures: These three new Introductory Music Classes for Adults, promote a healthy life style, and offer participants the opportunity to wade into the world of music at their own pace, These classes provide an easily accessible way to tap into the many “Wellness” benefits of music, and also lots of opportunity to socialize and make new friends!
SCHEDULE AND PRICING INFORMATION
ORFF FOR ADULTS
60-minute classes offered in 6-week sessions:
Session 3 - Apr 3 to May 8
Cost $84 / 6-week session
Day/Time: Wed 2:15 – 3:15 pm
HAWAIIAN MUSIC ADVENTURES
60-minute classes offered in 6-week sessions:
Session 1 – Jan 30 to Mar 6
Session 2 – Apr 3 to May 8
Day/Time: Wed 1:30 – 2:30 pm.
Cost: $84 / 6-week session
Georgina Craig
Georgina Craig graduated from Christ Church University in Canterbury, England; undertook postgraduate vocal studies at Trinity College of Music in London, teacher training at Reading University and Orff training in Calgary. She brings to the VCM a wealth of experience working with students of all ages both in a class setting and on a one to one basis. In addition to her community outreach work at the VCM, Georgina is the conductor for the Concerto group of Viva Youth Voices. Georgina enjoys performing music of all genres and is a member of Ensemble Laude here in Victoria. She also sings (…)
Anna Lyman
Anna (Acevedo) Lyman, is originally from Detroit, Michigan, and is a working musician, recording artist and educator, based on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Having studied ukulele and Hawaiian music with Ben Chong (Guitar and Ukulele player for Don Ho), among other Hawaiian instructors, Anna is an award-winning ukulele player, and as a now teaching ukulele in both group/ensemble and individual studio lessons at the Victoria Conservatory of Music’s new Westhills location in Langford. […]
Master classes, Workshops, and Jams
Master Classes, Workshops and Jams are an invaluable way to learn from some of the very best musicians in the world and each other. The VCM has a wide variety of opportunities in each of our Program Areas and Departments.
For more information contact the respective Department Head or Artistic Director:
Robert Holliston (Dept. Head, Keyboard)
rholliston@shaw.ca
Ingrid Attrot (Dept. Head, Voice)
sops@shaw.ca
Simon MacDonald (Dept. Head, Strings and Collegium)
macdonald@vcm.bc.ca
Emily Nagelbach (Dept. Head, Winds and Brass)
emily.nagelbach@gmail.com
Daniel Lapp (Artistic Director, SCM)
daniel@daniellapp.com
Dr. Jonathan Haek (Director, SMTC)
haek@vcm.bc.ca
David Visentin (Director, Dept. of Postsecondary Studies)
visentin@vcm.bc.ca
Robert Holliston
Robert Holliston studied at the Victoria Conservatory of Music under Robin Wood and Winifred Scott Wood, and at the University of British Columbia under Robert Rogers. As an accompanist and chamber player he has performed throughout Canada and the USA, England and New Zealand, and has been heard frequently on CBC-Radio. He has recorded CDs with the popular salon ensemble Viveza, trombonist Ian McDougall, tenor Ken Lavigne, his brother Tom Holliston, Show Business Giants, and members of the Hornby Island Ensemble. Robert has collaborated with many of Canada’s leading singers, including Richard Margison, Benjamin Butterfield, Judith Forst, Nathalie Paulin, Susan (…)
Ingrid Attrot
Hailed as ‘a singer with uncommon theatrical sensibility and musical intelligence’, soprano Ingrid Attrot has appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra with conductors such as Dutoit, Marriner, Willcocks, Pinnok and Hickox. Her work with conductor Richard Hickox has included performances of the Britten War Requiem, Peter Grimes (Ellen Orford), and Beethoven’s Fidelio (Leonora). Opera companies with which she has worked include the English National Opera (as Miss Jessel in Turn of the Screw), Opera Northern Ireland (as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni), and Pacific Opera (…)
Emily Nagelbach
Emily Nagelbach, Faculty Department Head, Winds and Brass, Conservatory School of Classical Music. Emily plays second flute/piccolo with the Vancouver Island Symphony, is a member of Pedagogy Committee of the National Flute Association. As a freelance musician, she frequently performs with many orchestras, including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Victoria Symphony Orchestra. She served as the Artistic Director of the Summer Music Discovery Camp at the VCM for many years. Emily holds an AVCM from the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto), a B.Mus. in Performance and Theory from Wilfrid Laurier University and a M.Mus. in Performance from the University of (…)
Daniel Lapp
Daniel Lapp is a world-renowned singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, teacher, archivist, band leader, sideman, producer, promoter and – no kidding – the list goes on. And like the true-blue Canadian he is, Daniel does it all with trademark energy and warmth. As a fiddler, jazz trumpeter and singer/songwriter, Daniel Lapp has played on over 100 albums and performed across Canada, United States, Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, Finland and Germany with some of the world’s most renowned Folk and Jazz musicians. Daniel is the winner of the B.C. Fiddle Championship and has appeared as a soloist with the CBC Chamber Orchestra as well as (…)
Jonathan Haek
Jonathan Haek is a composer and flutist originally from Portland, Oregon. Dr. Haek is the Director of the School of Music Technology and Creativity at the Victoria Conservatory of Music. He currently teaches Aural Skills courses for the VCM’s Department of Postsecondary Studies, and is the designer, developer, and instructor of the new postsecondary Certificate of Music Technologies program offered in partnership with Camosun College. Jon’s interests lie at the intersections of music, math, and technology. His projects have involved collaboration with modern dance choreographers, free improvisation, interactive and computer music composition, and Fibonacci numbers as compositional tools. Dedicated to […]
David Visentin
David Visentin is widely known throughout Canada as a performer, conductor, pedagogue and arts administrator whose leadership and creative experience in the performing arts has successfully advanced classical music from coast to coast. In 2011, founded Sistema Toronto and was appointed as the organization’s President and CEO. Sistema Toronto is a free and uniquely immersive after-school social program through music for at-risk children and youth, modeled after the highly successful program known as el Sistema. For six years, as dean and associate dean of The Glenn Gould School and Young Artists Performance Academy of The Royal Conservatory of Music, David […]
Simon MacDonald
Simon MacDonald began playing the violin at age seven, here in Victoria, British Columbia. Following studies with Frona Colquhoun and Sydney Humphreys, Simon earned his AVCM Teacher and Performance Diploma from the VCM, Bachelor’s degree from New England Conservatory in Boston, and Master’s degree from the Schulich School of Music, at the University of McGill, in Montreal. Simon’s musical education also included performing at music festivals in Europe and North America, including Schleswig Holstein Music Festival (Germany), The Festival of Two Worlds (Italy), the Spoleto Festival (Charleston, South Carolina), Tanglewood Music Festival and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival (Massachusetts), and at ArtSpring Festival on Salt Spring Island. […]
Opera Studio
This sought-after program provides comprehensive training in the many facets of opera for singers. Employing a mix of rehearsals, workshops, and classes leading to performances of opera excerpts and/or one act operas at the end of each term, aspects of training will include acting, movement, musical preparation and coaching, recitative study, audition techniques, and role preparation. The faculty is comprised of well-known guest directors, conductors and masterclass clinicians.
Ingrid Attrot
Hailed as ‘a singer with uncommon theatrical sensibility and musical intelligence’, soprano Ingrid Attrot has appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra with conductors such as Dutoit, Marriner, Willcocks, Pinnok and Hickox. Her work with conductor Richard Hickox has included performances of the Britten War Requiem, Peter Grimes (Ellen Orford), and Beethoven’s Fidelio (Leonora). Opera companies with which she has worked include the English National Opera (as Miss Jessel in Turn of the Screw), Opera Northern Ireland (as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni), and Pacific Opera (…)
Nancy Argenta
With a repertoire spanning three centuries, Nancy Argenta has been hailed not only as the supreme Handel soprano of our age but also for her performances of works by such diverse composers as Mahler, Mozart, Schubert and Schoenberg. Conductors with whom she has collaborated include Ozawa, Gardiner, Davis, Blomstedt, Pinnock, Hogwood and Norrington. She has sung with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, and the Toronto, Montreal, and Sydney Symphony Orchestras.
In opera, concert and recital, she has appeared at many leading festivals including Aix-en-Provence, Salzburg, Mostly Mozart, and the BBC (…)
Robert Holliston
Robert Holliston studied at the Victoria Conservatory of Music under Robin Wood and Winifred Scott Wood, and at the University of British Columbia under Robert Rogers. As an accompanist and chamber player he has performed throughout Canada and the USA, England and New Zealand, and has been heard frequently on CBC-Radio. He has recorded CDs with the popular salon ensemble Viveza, trombonist Ian McDougall, tenor Ken Lavigne, his brother Tom Holliston, Show Business Giants, and members of the Hornby Island Ensemble. Robert has collaborated with many of Canada’s leading singers, including Richard Margison, Benjamin Butterfield, Judith Forst, Nathalie Paulin, Susan (…)
Self-Directed Voice Studies for Advanced Singers
Have you recently graduated from a degree or diploma program? Graduates often feel they need further study or specialized instruction to prepare for professional engagements and auditions. VCM offers a personalized combination of our innovative programs for advanced singers, which includes coachings and lessons with senior faculty, Opera Studio, the Advanced Voice Workshop, and Voice […]
Instruction days and times will vary according to program selection.
Ingrid Attrot
Hailed as ‘a singer with uncommon theatrical sensibility and musical intelligence’, soprano Ingrid Attrot has appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra with conductors such as Dutoit, Marriner, Willcocks, Pinnok and Hickox. Her work with conductor Richard Hickox has included performances of the Britten War Requiem, Peter Grimes (Ellen Orford), and Beethoven’s Fidelio (Leonora). Opera companies with which she has worked include the English National Opera (as Miss Jessel in Turn of the Screw), Opera Northern Ireland (as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni), and Pacific Opera (…)
Nancy Argenta
With a repertoire spanning three centuries, Nancy Argenta has been hailed not only as the supreme Handel soprano of our age but also for her performances of works by such diverse composers as Mahler, Mozart, Schubert and Schoenberg. Conductors with whom she has collaborated include Ozawa, Gardiner, Davis, Blomstedt, Pinnock, Hogwood and Norrington. She has sung with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, and the Toronto, Montreal, and Sydney Symphony Orchestras.
In opera, concert and recital, she has appeared at many leading festivals including Aix-en-Provence, Salzburg, Mostly Mozart, and the BBC (…)
The Mahler Project
An experimental performance course for pianists and singers aged 30+ to explore the songs of Alma Mahler-Werfel and Gustav Mahler.
For further details, including information about this course, examples of the songs we will be studying, and details about student categories, see the project website: https://mahlerproject.ca/
Kathryn Whitney
Canadian/British singer Dr Kathryn Whitney was raised on Vancouver Island and now divides her time between Britain and Canada. A versatile musician whose work combines concert and recital performance with a wide range of collaborative research, educational and other projects, she is a lyric mezzo-soprano with an “impressively wide dynamic range” (Oxford Times) and a “special gift” for interpreting text (Nanaimo News) whose singing has been described as “meaty”, “prophetic” (Oxford Times) and “very touching” (Sir John Eliot Gardiner). Kathryn is a freelance performer, teacher, researcher, and solo and choral clinician. She is currently an Associate Fellow at the Institute (…)
Anna Cal
ANNA CAL is trained in the famous tradition of Russian piano schools. She studied at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg with well-known Russian performers and professors including Vitaly Berzon, Pavel Yegorov and the late Helen Shishko. She holds Master degrees with high distinction in three fields: piano performance, piano pedagogy and collaborative piano. After studying in Russia, Anna spent two years in Rome, Italy where she worked as a soloist and a voice coach. Anna is a senior teacher at the Victoria Conservatory of Music where she teaches piano, piano pedagogy and collaborative piano. She is Director of Collaborative piano and Interpretation in German Lieder Projects. Anna is a frequent performer in Victoria as a soloist and in collaboration with vocalists and instrumentalists.
VCM Chorale
A mixed-voice (SATB) chamber choir. Major choral works from the classical canon are paired with lesser-known and contemporary selections to comprise a rich and varied repertoire each term. Strong musicianship, and good sight-reading and part-singing ability are required.
Term 1: Sep 5 - Dec 5
Term 2: Jan 6 - Apr 9
Mon & Thu • 2:00 - 3:30pm • Downtown
$257/term
Brian Wismath
Brian Wismath is music director of Civic Orchestra of Victoria, Linden Singers of Victoria, Victoria Choral Society, Victoria Conservatory of Music Chorale, and Vox Humana Chamber Choir. With a rich musical background, Mr. Wismath is in demand as a clinician and has served as director of Vancouver Peace Choir, University of Victoria Chamber Singers and Tucson Masterworks Chorale, associate conductor of Orpheus Choir of Toronto and Chorus Niagara, and assistant conductor of St. Jacob’s Youth Choir (Stockholm, Sweden), Ontario Youth Choir and Opera in Concert Chorus (Toronto). A passionate advocate for the performance of new music, Mr. Wismath has commissioned […]
Vocal Diction and IPA
Language diction skills for the singer are developed alongside use of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Diction skills are rehearsed through poetic reading and interpretation, as well as being related to physiological mechanics of the singer. One or two related spoken languages are considered each term on a rotational cycle.
Term 1: Sep 6 - Dec 6
Term 2: Jan 7 - Apr 11
Mon & Thu • 10:00 - 11:00 • $588/term
Downtown
Kyron Basu
Kyron Basu, baritone, has taught at the Victoria Conservatory of Music since September, 2016. He earned his Diploma in Music and AVCM in Vocal Pedagogy earlier that year, studying with Ingrid Attrot (voice) and Nancy Argenta (pedagogy). As a teacher, Kyron strives to provide a supportive and encouraging lesson atmosphere to help students unlock their musical potential, regardless of experience level. He emphasizes the development of a free, healthy vocal technique capable of expressing a diverse range of music. An enthusiastic performer, Kyron sings regularly in the Victoria area. As a soloist, he has appeared with groups such as Fretwork, […]