Whether it’s Christmas-based music or not, the holidays are arguably the most musical time of the year. Many people’s memories concerning the holidays are focused on music. Young or old, the students of today will never forget the moment that Christmas morning when they woke up mom or dad to the tune of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana or went Christmas carolling with friends or family. No matter what your favourite Christmas moment is, one thing is clear: it’s these musical moments that will always be one of the first things college students think of when the holidays come to town.
This is the kind of Christmas magic that St. Mary’s Church hopes to capture with their annual Advent Lunchtime Concert Series. Led by award-winning Victoria Conservatory of Music (VCM) music teacher Ingrid Henderson, this series is one you don’t want to miss. (Note: Because of COVID-19 restrictions, some of the concerts in the series were cancelled after we interviewed Henderson and others are online-only; see the website at the end of this story for up-to-date information on the series.)
Henderson says that Katherine Young coordinated the Advent Concert Series for the last 10 years, and also worked at the VCM in the ’80s and ’90s. Young passed away in June; she was 88.
“She was the inspiration to the concert series,” says Henderson.
Henderson—who has been teaching at VCM for 35 years—received the 2004 Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal for her dedication to teaching and inspiring young people in performance throughout the community. She works with young students and aims to prepare them to be ready to perform. Henderson’s students have received master classes with distinguished pianists and have been accepted for studies at the Juilliard School, the Manhattan School of Music, and the National Arts Centre, as well as played many prominent local concerts and events.
“I work generally with very talented students, preparing them for solo and concerto performance, particularly with orchestra, which is my favourite,” Henderson says, “and many of my students have performed with orchestra over the years, particularly the Victoria Symphony Splash concert, which is held usually every year at the Inner Harbour, in front of 40,000 people. Henderson says that music can serve as escapism from our stressful lives.
“[Music] inspires, it creates energy, it’s great for the soul and the spirit and the mind, and just overall health,” she says. “Particularly now, it’s more of an escape, during challenging times, because you can just sit and listen to music and feel relaxed or it can just help you take your mind off stressful things going on in your life.”
As for her teaching, Henderson says that she hopes that she has helped her students achieve a musical goal.
“Certainly, when I teach,” she says, “I feel like I’m creating a purpose for the students to learn an instrument and feel like they’ve accomplished something very special.”
Advent Lunchtime Concert Series
Wednesday, December 9 (online-only) and Wednesday, December 16
See stmarysoakbay.ca/adventmusic2020 for all updated information