One of the fastest growing communities is getting a little more musical.
The Victoria Conservatory of Music prepares to open its doors to a first ever satellite location with a month of free music lessons leading into their expansion into the West Shore for their first ever satellite location.
“With the West Shore growing as quickly as it is... and being home to such a large number of families and young children, we felt it would be a wonderful community to present our work,” said VCM CEO Jane Butler-McGregor. “We feel that location we are at where we join the Y and library it becomes a wonderful family destination for everyone.”
The VCM officially opens its doors to their official music programming in April following the month of complimentary sample lessons sponsored by Island Savings. Their new programs won’t just be a carbon copy of what they offer downtown, but based on feedback from community partners in the West Shore, who had a say in local programming, she said serves anyone and everyone.
“We now have 4,500 students registered in our school, the youngest being four months old and the oldest being 104,” she said. “So it truly is a community music school where absolutely everyone, regardless of age or ability, can find their place.”
Butler-McGregor said the VCM invested approximately $500,000 into the facility, going into leasehold improvements and operational costs for the first three years, which was funded in part by their 50th anniversary fundraising campaign, which was aiming for $2 million.
“On behalf of everyone at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, I just want to express our sincere gratitude for the amazing welcome we have already experienced with the new friendships we have already made and the community support that has already started,” she continued. “It has just been wonderful.”
The facility hosts programming for a variety of musical styles, even those outside the classical genre, including rock, pop and scoring for film and video games, which aren’t always associated with the stylings offered at the conservatory.
Butler-McGregor said it’s all coming and open to all visitors at their new facility where she hopes to continue their vision of more music, to more people and more communities.
“We leased 3,000 square feet, joining forces of course with the new Y and a new branch of the Victoria Public Library, truly making this complex a family destination for body, mind and spirit,” she continued. “Of course music being the spirit portion of that.”
alim@goldstreamgazette.com