Blog

The Fall Newsletter is ready for your viewing pleasure. There are so many great things happening at the school! To download your own PDF copy, click on the newsletter page, put the kettle on, sit back and enjoy the read on what is currently going on at the Music School.

Thank you so much for continuing to bring your Nature’s Fare Markets receipts in to the donation box! We have raised a whopping $4,145 over the years to go towards our music programs! Feel free to continue bringing them in, every receipt that comes in gives the Music School 3% back before taxes. Thank you!

Although things look different again this year, we are thrilled that another school year has started! Welcome back to a brand new year of learning and discovering your passion while being a part of a community that brings people together.

To those who have registered already, thank you so much! If you haven’t registered yet, please see or phone the office. We are open Monday-Thursday, 8:30am—5:00pm, closed for lunch from 1:00-1:30. The office is closed on Fridays.

We are pleased to offer payment options again this year, including monthly payment options:

Option 1: Pay invoice in two installments

Option 2: Pay invoice in four installments

Option 3: Pay invoice in monthly installments

For options 2 or 3, we will need postdated cheques or a credit card number that I can pull from. Please let the office know which option would work the best for you.

The best part of being at the Music School on a regular basis is seeing the progress students make every week. During the fall season when the windows are open, the sounds of music and learning flow out of the school and wrap around you like a warm sweater. We want to thank you, for sharing your time with us and being a part of our music community.

For all of the latest Music School information, follow us on Facebook and Instagram. 

It’s here! It’s here! The online video recital is now complete on our YouTube page…in 5 parts! We ended up having over 100 video submissions – you all are so amazing!

Enjoy the year-end video recital, bravo to all who participated!

*We would like to thank the Community Foundation North Okanagan for their continued support of our Music School and the Gift of Music project.

Carole Ruth had her outdoor violin recital this past weekend, and her students played wonderfully! It was so nice to hear music outside in front of the Smith House, what a beautiful setting! Kaia, Griffin and Alex are seen below, performing their pieces. Thank you so much to all of Carole’s students for participating, we hope you have a fantastic summer! See you all next year!

Do you remember when violin students from the Suzuki Program busked in Save-On Foods to raise money for the Starfish Backpack Program in 2019? We were finally able to take a photo and give the donation! A huge thank you goes out to the Suzuki Violin Students and our fabulous Bev Martens for their amazing donation of $1380. Fundraising continued over this COVID year as the students worked on their music theory. This donation will feed almost 3 families for the next school year! Way to go, everyone.

Congratulations to the following 2021 Scholarship Winners! We live in such a generous community. Remarkably, we received $10,400 in scholarship money this year, to give away to deserving students in grades 6 up to the ARCT level. The Music School would like to thank the following individuals and businesses for their very generous donations, because without them our scholarship program would not be as successful as it is. If you see any of these individuals or businesses in our community, please let them know they are appreciated and we are so grateful for their continued support for the arts.

Noah Wessels, ARCT Piano—David and June Rempel Scholarship

Angela Zeng, ARCT Cello—Dr. Lora Fellenz and Dr. Mathias Fellenz Scholarship

Holly McCallum, ARCT Cello—Hrabchuk Family Scholarship

Simone Konrad, Level 10 Piano—MQN Architects Scholarship

James Richardson, Level 9 Piano—James Frederick Roh Memorial Scholarship

Claire Richardson, Level 9 Piano—James Frederick Roh Memorial Scholarship

Laura Hrabchuk, Level 9 Violin—Patti Brenner Memorial Scholarship

Amy Curtis, Level 9 Piano—Caroline Galbraith Memorial Scholarship

VCMS Vocal Ensemble

   Alex Thiessen, Level 9 Voice—Sandro Banducci Memorial Scholarship

   Zaela Thiessen, Level 8 Voice—Sandro Banducci Memorial Scholarship

   Ulyana Doerksen, Level 7 Voice—Sandro Banducci Memorial Scholarship

Olivia Sunderland, Level 8 Violin—Caroline Galbraith Memorial Scholarship

Joshua Mark, Level 8 Piano—Willerton Engineering Scholarship

Ella Bannon, Level 8 Piano—Dante Darkazanli Memorial Scholarship

Tianna Dickie, Level 8 Piano—Olive Woodley Memorial Scholarship

Natalie Houle, Level 8 Piano—Peter and Pauline Legg Memorial Scholarship

Abigail Osborn, Level 7 Piano—George Shaw Memorial Scholarship

Anna Hrabchuk, Level 7 Cello—Dr. Jane Laidlaw Scholarship

Autumn Sunderland, Level 7 Violin—Reekie, Kineshanko, Tulloch Memorial Scholarship

Anya Massa, Level 7 Violin—Nixon Wenger Scholarship

Tikvah Osborn, Level 7 Piano—Sanssouci Scholarship           

Thea Vermeulen, Level 7 Piano—Karen Rempel Scholarship

Ella Barton, Level 7 Piano—Vernon Volkswagen Scholarship

Jadyn Dobernigg, Level 7 Guitar—Hurlburt Memorial Scholarship

Mayah Martsellos, Level 6 Voice—Elizabeth Scott Scholarship for Young Musicians

Thank you to all of you for being a part of our Music School, and for your dedication to your respective programs. We appreciate you and all the effort that goes into your studies, and we look forward to seeing you in the Fall!

First off, we wanted to say thank you so much for a truly remarkable year. We have made it through and were able to continue to do what we love. It is so hard for me to believe this is June already. All of us here at the school appreciate your flexibility and compassion to help gets us through, and we are looking for to September and whatever adjustments that will bring. Below is the Summer Newsletter for your perusal; there is some really great content that reinforces how remarkable our students are.

Just a reminder that registration is now open for returning students in September. Please let your teacher know if you are wanting to continue with lessons, and then register with Heather in the office. Thank you!

Registration is now open for the 2021-2022 school year. For current students, please let your music teacher know if you will be returning next year; you can pick up a registration form in the office or download it from our registration page on the website. Plans are in the works for another fantastic year, and we would love you to join us!

For new students interested in starting lessons and being a part of our Music School community, please contact Heather in the office. She will let you know which teachers have space in September, and will get you set up with registration.

We had an exciting opportunity to host a Violin Duo with the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra Chamber Ensembles in a socially distanced performance this past weekend; what a spectacular Sunday afternoon is was!

OSO concertmaster Rachel Kristenson and principal second violinist Martine denBok performed on our newly restored veranda for some of our students and their parents. We had four 20-minute concerts maintaining appropriate COVID-19 safety protocols for the musicians, staff, students and their families.

The sun was shining and people were so happy to hear live music for the first time in what feels like forever. We are grateful to be able to share the joy of music within our community, as well as provide a bit of comfort to those who need it – especially in a pandemic. We look forward to having more outdoor concerts at our school in the near future, as we all look for ways to connect in our community!

Check out the great Castanet article written about the afternoon.