The chair of the Camosun College music department, and director of the professional school at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, believes the picturesque converted church at Pandora and Quadra is the college’s unofficial third campus. And an ongoing concert series on campus should further that theory.
Music students at the conservatory do become isolated from the rest of Camosun at their downtown location, says Camosun music department chair and conservatory professional school director Mary Byrnes. But there’s no reason why they have to stay that way, she says, because the conservatory is coming to Camosun.
“We’ve set these up to be these 45-minute, single concerts with no intermission, at Camosun,” explains Byrnes. “We just wanted to give the folks a little reason to wind down their school week, so they are designed to be short.”
A mixture of first and second-year students from the conservatory’s music diploma program (one of the Camosun programs offered in partnership with the conservatory) are performing in the on-campus concert series.
“Most of our vocals students will have just the week prior competed in the conservatory’s Italian song competition,” says Byrnes. “Also, we have a number of students who are preparing their auditions for third-year study and so they’re going to be doing a little bit more of a complete program for that.”
Emma Raatz, a second-year student, will be singing on February 24 alongside six other vocalists. They will be performing a mixture of English, Italian, German, and French classical songs, and even some opera.
“I’ve just always loved music, since when I was young,” says Raatz. “My mom used to sing to me all the time, and I just loved music so I wanted to start taking lessons. I can’t imagine my life without it, really.”
The downtown music program is about performing and trying to get as much experience in front of a crowd as possible, and the Gibson Musicales concert series is a perfect opportunity for that, says Raatz.
“That’s why I decided to take it in university. I want to be able to share music with people. I want to teach, eventually. It just kind of completes me, I guess you could say; I know that sounds cheesy,” she laughs.
Unlike Byrnes, Raatz disagrees that the conservatory has a strong connection to Camosun, at least from a student’s point of view.
“I have a bus pass, but that’s the only Camosun-y thing we have at the conservatory,” she says. “Everyone asks, ‘Where do you go to school?’ and I never say Camosun; I don’t really feel like a Camosun student.”
Gibson Musicales series
Friday, February 24, 4pm
Young Auditiroium, Lansdowne, by donation
vcm.bc.ca