Dedicated to nurturing musical learning, enjoyment and excellence.
On Monday the Carriage House Orchestra with string players between the ages 4-14 earned gold for their performance of the Fiesta Medley at the Central Okanagan Performing Arts Festival in Kelowna!
During the adjudication students were reminded that it is important to use 3 parts of your body when playing with a group — your eyes, your ears and your lungs.
Congratulations students, parents and teachers for a job well done!
We had such a terrific Spring Tea Party this weekend – the sun was shining, music and tea were flowing and laughter could be heard throughout the Smith House. Sharon Lawrence managed to find a descendent of Samuel Smith, the builder of the historic Smith House. His name is Dwayne Thomson, and he and his wife and sister-in-law came to enjoy the afternoon. It was truly spellbinding, listening to him share stories of what he knows about his family and his great, great grandfather’s journey and livelihood in Vernon. They are such lovely people.
Thank you so much to everyone who was able to come out and help with the event, your presence was very much appreciated. We have a long list of personal thank yous, so let’s get to it:
Thank you to Kim Daniel for being so enthusiastic to help us with this event; she donated the tea, homemade scones, jam and clotted cream, and spent the afternoon with us.
Thank you to Jennifer Fawcett, Kim Daniel and Kim Clarke for preparing and serving the tea, as well as helping with the clean-up afterwards.
Thank you to Alex MacArthur, Kim Clarke, Geoffrey Barker, Faith Koscielny and Mila Hayduk for performing for our guests.
Thank you to Natalie Kober for welcoming guests and taking tickets at the door with a giant smile.
Thank you Sarah Perkins for being our event photographer.
Thank you to everyone who donated treats for the tables, the plates looked and tasted absolutely delicious.
As always, thank you to Pat and Lori for everything you do for the music school in general, including setting up the table, chairs and china for this event. Pat is currently putting in countless hours sanding, painting and repairing the fence along the parking lot. It looks absolutely outstanding!
Finally, thank you to everyone who came to enjoy the event and support the school. We are so proud of what this school does for the community, and we are happy to show it off in any way that we can. Whoop whoop!
Check out this great new program opportunity for families! Spring into Strings with the Purple Garbanzos is a NEW weekly interactive music class for children and their caregivers, with a focus on stringed instruments. Sing! Dance! Play and Laugh!
When: Fridays, April 17th – June 19th (*dates have been revised)
Time: 10:45am – 11:30am
Cost: $150 + $30 registration fee
To register: vcms@shaw.ca or 250-545-4977
The Mozarts and Mendelssohns of our time are thoroughly enjoying this session of Musical Munchkins with Katie Flaherty. Every week they are actively bouncing and shaking with their rhythm shaker eggs, learning new songs, and dancing in their parents arms as they navigate sound and tempos. One of the themes in this session has been “Babies love moving with you!” This theme encourages parents and caregivers to dance or hold hands with your baby when picking them up. Use dance props like scarves, ribbons, puppets or blankets. Move together as you listen to songs you love (or that your older children love) or even songs you make up! Families were asked to consider how the music we hear impacts us – our thoughts, our mood, even our identities. What music is the most precious and of value to you and how would you like to share that with your family through your intentional music choices?
Musical Munchkins fits into our current theme of Learning Music Together. It’s important to reiterate that music lessons create natural opportunities for parents and children to explore new things together. Regardless of how old music students are, it’s never too early or too late to share this connection with the people that you love. As these babies continue to grow in a musical environment with their families, practice time at home can turn into mini jam sessions or sing-a-longs – what a great opportunity to bring people together in a fun and engaging environment!
Well done, Musical Munchkins! Keep up the great work; we are so excited to be a part of your musical journey!
This season we are diving into the benefits of learning and playing instruments together as a family. We are thrilled to be noticing an upward trend of generations within families attending lessons to learn how to play at home together. Whether it’s parents, grandparents or aunts and uncles taking music lessons, working together toward a common goal can be a deeply satisfying and connecting experience.
When older generations actively participate—whether by attending lessons, encouraging home practice, or learning alongside their child—it sends a clear message: this is important, and I’m here with you. You create the time and space required to work on a piece together because there is now an invested interest within all participants.
Music lessons create natural opportunities for parents and children to explore new things together. Together you learn about different composers, discover new genres, or even pick up a few music theory concepts yourself. This experience becomes a foundation for deeper connections, more inside jokes, and a strong family culture centered on creativity and growth.
With mother/daughter duo Tawny and Lyric, Tawny was inspired to see Lyric enjoying learning the piano and it encouraged Tawny to want to pick it up again. “Getting to play the duet together at Christmas was really cool, we had challenges learning the piece together along the way but that was okay – it was part of working together and sharing ideas. I was so proud to get to perform with her! I just love her confidence in front of crowd and it encourages me to manage my stage fright.”
Lyric believes that one of the outcomes of learning to play an instrument with her mom is that they can help each other with their practicing at home. Because Tawny has a bit more experience from taking lessons when she was growing up, she can guide Lyric along. “Lyric is learning everything from the ground up, and she reminds me of music details that I’ve maybe forgotten or missed along the way. We look forward to more duets!”
Learning is a lifelong process. When we take an interest, ask questions, or even learn a few chords as caregivers and role models, we show that it’s never too late to try something new. This creates a shared mindset of curiosity and growth – and you may even create new family traditions together, like starting your own living room family jam sessions!
If you’re looking for a way to start taking lessons, feel free to chat with you family’s teacher. It’s never too late to start!
We are back into a new year, with more exciting and terrific opportunities on the horizon! Join us on Thursday, February 24th, at 7:00pm as we encourage and support Vernon Community Music School guitar student Elise Dobernigg when she opens for the upcoming NOCCA – North Okanagan Community Concert Association concert featuring Tom Allen at the Vernon & District Performing Arts Centre Society. Elise is a grade 11 French immersion student at Seaton Secondary School. She has been playing guitar for five years under the direction of Ken Scott. She is greatly inspired by genres ranging from Bossa Nova and jazz to folk and indie, which influence her music and help her create her own unique style. She frequently performs at open mic events at Bean Scene and Cambium, alongside various recitals over the years. With Ken’s help (as well as students at the Center for Arts and Technology Okanagan), she has recorded a few songs on Spotify, under the name Ellie D. Give her a listen! Tickets for her performance as the youth opener are available at ticketseller.ca, or by phoning 250-549-SHOW. This is a show you won’t want to miss!
The Fall 2025 edition of our quarterly newsletter is hot off the press! Put the kettle on, sit back and relax as you read through the pages of the incredible things happening at the Vernon Community Music School. To download your own copy, visit the newsletter page of the website – you’ll have access to all of the newsletters over the last 6 years!
Sign up for this super fun and inspiring performing arts day camp, with Rachel Wyatt! On Saturday, November 22nd, join Rachel as she guides kids aged 6 – 10 to activate their imaginations, build body awareness and gain personal self confidence through acting, singing, dancing and storytelling.
This camp will fill up quickly, so to register or for more information, contact Rachel at 778-212-9642 or rachelwyatt100@hotmail.com. Come join us!
Sign up for this super fun and inspiring performing arts day camp, with Rachel Wyatt! On Saturday, November 22nd, join Rachel as she guides kids aged 6 – 10 to activate their imaginations, build body awareness and gain personal self confidence through acting, singing, dancing and storytelling. This camp will fill up quickly, so to register or for more information, contact Rachel at 778-212-9642 or rachelwyatt100@hotmail.com. Come join us!
Join us for our VCMS AGM on Wednesday, October 22nd in the Carriage House Loft. Start time is 6:30pm. See you there!