Classical Choir/VCM Chorale
A mixed-voice (SATB) chamber choir that explores major choral works from the classical canon, paired with lesser-known and modern contemporary selections to comprise a rich and varied repertoire each term. A prime focus for this engaging ensemble experience is building the strong musicianship, good sight-reading, and part-singing abilities in each participant.
Brian Wismath
Brian Wismath is a faculty member at Victoria Conservatory of Music where he leads the VCM’s Chorale vocal ensemble and directs the VCM’s Summer Choral Intensive program. He has been a guest conductor of Victoria Symphony and Ballet Victoria and has prepared choruses for renowned conductors Robert Cooper, Laurence Cummings, Steven Devine, Robert Franz, Christian Kluxen, Jeanne Lamon, Tania Miller, Michelle Mourre, Giuseppe Pietraroia, Ivars Taurins, and Timothy Vernon. […]
Masterclasses, 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 Victoria Conservatory of Music: 250.386.5311 | [email protected]
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 (…)
Emily Nagelbach
Emily Nagelbach, Faculty Department Head, Winds and Brass, Conservatory School of Classical Music. Emily is second flute/piccolo with the Vancouver Island Symphony and principal flute of the Palm Court Orchestra. As a freelance musician, she has performed with many orchestras, including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Victoria Symphony Orchestra and Pacific Opera Victoria. 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 British Columbia, studying with Amy Hamilton, Lorna McGhee and Camille Churchfield. As a teacher, Emily thoroughly enjoys teaching flute and piccolo to students of all ages and abilities. Her students are part of a vibrant and active studio, performing regularly in recital, masterclass, festivals, and exams. […]
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 (…)
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. […]
Daniel Brandes
Daniel Brandes has been a faculty member at the Victoria Conservatory of Music since 2015, where he has worked and taught in a number of areas. He teaches theory and ear training courses and lessons in the Postsecondary and Music Technology & Creativity program areas, as well as the Creative Impulse, a course focusing on cultivating creative practices. Additionally, Daniel is the program director and lead choir director for the VCM’s ChoirKids program delivered tuition-free through VCM Children’s Music Outreach into underserved schools in the Capital Regional District. As of July 2021, Daniel is the Artistic Director of the VCM’s […]
Music Theatre Workshop
This workshop is for youth and adult singers looking to immerse themselves in the magical world of music theatre. Students investigate the skills of the singing actor in a workshop that incorporates vocal training, acting training, repertoire study, and performance. Students choose/are assigned solos, duets, trios and/or ensemble numbers from the storytelling musical repertoire of the last 30 years on- and off-Broadway. These modern music theatre repertoire choices are studied for musical and dramatic challenges, coached in a class setting, and staged for a class performance at the end of the 13-week session.
VCM Guest Faculty
Each year the VCM is pleased to welcome a number of guest teaching artists to work with our students in one or more program areas. Guest program instructors can either be an existing member of faculty teaching in another program area, or one from our ever-expanding artistic community!
Opera Studio
Opera Studio is on hiatus this year while it undergoes a review and restructuring, leading to a relaunch as a for-credit course offered annually as part of the VCM’s new postsecondary certificate in Advanced Individual Music Studies, currently in the approval stages. For the 2022-2023 academic year, we are pleased to pilot a new Music Theatre Workshop program led by Nancy Curry, and directed by Allison Greene. The program will run from January to April 2023, participation involves an audition, and the program will consist of weekly classes on Saturday mornings in the Alix Goolden Performance Hall, culminating in a production week in the Metro Theatre from March 29 through to the 31st, with an open Dress Rehearsal Saturday April 1st, and matinee performance Sunday April 2nd.
VCM Guest Faculty
Each year the VCM is pleased to welcome a number of guest teaching artists to work with our students in one or more program areas. Guest program instructors can either be an existing member of faculty teaching in another program area, or one from our ever-expanding artistic community!
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 being related to physiological mechanics of the singer. One or two related spoken languages are considered each term on a rotational cycle. Click here for information on Spring […]
Returning Spring 2023
Kiiri Michelsen
Canadian-Norwegian mezzo-soprano Kiiri Michelsen is active in performance, teaching (voice/lyric diction), coaching (lyric diction) and research (lyric diction). Voice teaching (Dept of Postsecondary Studies – VCM/Camosun Diploma in Music Performance; Ann & George Nation Conservatory School of Classical Music) The ultimate goal of Kiiri’s teaching approach is the discovery of each singer’s unique sound. In […]