The holiday season is quickly approaching, which means local legend Daniel Lapp is preparing for his 19th annual Home for Christmas concerts.
Lapp is the artistic director of the Victoria Conservatory of Music’s Chwyl Family School of Contemporary Music, which includes the contemporary music program offered through Camosun College. Best known for his fiddle skills, Lapp is also a world-renowned singer, composer, band leader, multi-instrumentalist, and teacher. Over the years, he’s played on over 100 albums and performed across North America and Europe with some of the biggest names in the music business. While he calls British Columbia home, Lapp says he didn’t always envision life this way.
“When I was younger I thought I’d live in one of the major cities of the world so I could follow my music career,” says Lapp. “I had a moment at the end of a tour with Rickie Lee Jones and my bandmates and I were all at Heathrow Airport flying home to our respective cities, which were Los Angeles, Paris, New York, and I was flying home to Victoria. It dawned on me that those were the cities I’d always dreamed I’d be living in but I was really excited to be flying home to Victoria.”
Lapp remembers coming to a realization on that flight that everything he needed was right here in BC.
“BC is my home—born and raised,” says Lapp. “I love getting on a plane and touring but I really appreciate the connections I’ve made in Victoria over 30 years of teaching, and I put a lot of value on those relationships.”
The Home for Christmas series is different for Lapp, because he acts as curator for the concerts.
“I get to feature a lot of my favourite musicians in town and showcase my hard-working and passionate students,” says Lapp. “Being the musical director of the show, I’m playing all the time, but it’s not my feature, it’s my chance to put a spotlight on artists that I love to work with.”
The show is unique, Lapp says, because of the wide representation in ages and musical styles, and the blend of professional and amateur musicians.
“Our students just light right up when they have the opportunity to play with professional musicians,” says Lapp. “For professionals, it kind of puts us in touch with why we started playing music in the first place. Seeing the excitement of a child on stage is a great reminder for those of us who make our living doing this.”
This is the first live Home For Christmas concert in three years. Lapp says they kept the series going through COVID measures but they’re making real progress this year by bringing the audience back to Alix Goolden Hall.
“In other words, back in 2020 we couldn’t even be in the same room so we had to put an online show together small pieces at a time,” says Lapp. “2021 was quite fun because 100-plus performers were able to be in Alix Goolden Hall performing, but we couldn’t have a live audience. We felt progress but this year—we can finally bring all of the performers together in a full house. We’re very excited.”
Lapp says a roster of local professional musicians will play in the Swinging Shepherd’s House Band, the Shiny H’Ornaments, and the Strings of Lights. They’ll be joined by the Joy of Life Choir, Folkestra!, and the BC Fiddle Orchestra, special guest Andrea Menard, and, this year, audiences will be treated to some BC Fiddle Orchestra alumni coming back. The spirit of the season is alive and well at these shows, Lapp says.
“The anticipation of Christmas Day is very much in the air,” he says. “That’s why I called it ‘Home For Christmas’—that opportunity for families to get together that only get to do this maybe once or twice a year.”
Daniel Lapp’s Home For Christmas
7:30 pm Friday, December 16, 2 pm and 7:30 pm Saturday, December 17
Alix Goolden Performance Hall
vcm.bc.ca