Concert announcements - December 2008

The busy month of December is upon us. Here is a small quick sampling of what is going on around the province this month at our community music schools and music for youth programs in BC:

Richmond Youth Concert Band - 30th anniversary concert - Monday Dec. 1st, 7 pm Richmond Pentecostal Church, 9300 Westminster Highway, Richmond, BC.

Central Valley Academy - Dec. 4/5 7:30 pm South Abbotsford Church
The Messiah will be presented by CVAM and the Abbotsford Youth Orchestra together with the Fraser Valley Singers, Pacific Spirit Choir and members of the Canada West Chamber Orchestra.

Place Des Arts - Dec. 6th starting at 4pm - Light up the Square.
Carré Heritage Square 1120 Brunette Avenue, Coquitlam
What better way for families to mark the start of the holiday season than by basking in the glow of shimmering lights, feasting on traditional French Canadian delicacies, delighting in the foot-stomping sounds of the Coquitlam Celtic Ensemble and watching a heart warming performance of A Child's Christmas in Wales?

Richmond Music School - Saturday Dec. 6th, 2 - 4 pm
Christmas songs performed by children 11 years and under, Music , carols, food, fun and a visit with Santa!

Langley Community Music School - Dec. 7th
Annual Student Christmas Concerts at 1:30pm and 3:30pm.

Delta Youth Orchestra - Christmas Concert - Sunday Dec. 7th, 3pm
Genesis Theatre, Ladner BC.

Chiliwack Academy of Music - Dec. 13, 2008 7:30 pm
Chilliwack Festival Chorus Concert - Features a festive holiday program including seasonal favourites and a carol sing. Paula Quick, director Lisa Scyner, pianist $12/general $10/seniors All Students Free. St Thomas Anglican Church 46048 Gore Avenue.

Delta Community Music School - Christmas Recital -
Sunday Dec. 14 2pm. All Saints Anglican Church, Ladner BC.

Powell River Academy - Dec. 20 8 pm
Chor Musica with Don James, conductor presents “Make we joy now in this fest” featuring popular carols - both sacred and secular.

Benjamin Zander: Classical Music with Shining eyes

Here is a video clip of Benjamin Zander, musician and author of "The Art of Possibility" talking about the relevance of classical music to our world and how classical music is something all of us can understand and how it is still very relevant to today's world.

In this clip Benjamin effectively demonstrates the power of classical music by using an excerpt from Chopin to demonstrate the power of music.

Video links are below.

Tuba Christmas 2008

Granville Island December 14,
Yuletide Stage in Triangle Square

Why: Tuba Christmas is an opportunity for Tuba and Euphonium players to get together and be the star of the concert. We welcome players of all levels and encourage school players to come and join the fun. The carols have parts that can be played by students with a few years of experience. Contact me if you want to get Carol Books in advance.

When: 9:30 - Registration and a short rehearsal will be at the green room at 1402 Anderson (at the corner with Johnston St.)

Cost: Registration - $8.00 Carol Books - $25.00

For More Information: contact Noel MacDonald noelmacdonald@shaw.ca

Canadian performing arts organizations generate $2.70 in revenues for every dollar recieved from governments

• Largest share of total revenues came from box office revenues (38% of total revenues), larger than total government or total private funding
• Private sector revenues grew the fastest over the past ten years: increasing by 53%, double the growth rate of earned revenues (27%) and government revenues (25%).
• Fundraising from individuals doubled in value between 1996-97 and 2006-07
• Substantial shift in corporate funding from donations to sponsorships.

Finances of Performing Arts Organizations in Canada in 2006-07, the 24^th report in the Statistical Insights on the Arts series from Hill Strategies Research, finds that performing arts organizations generate $2.70 in revenues for every dollar received from governments. The report also shows that fundraising revenues grew the most between 1996-97 and 2006-07.

Read the full report at www.hillstrategies.com

National Youth Orchestra of Canada

A reminder that NYO applications are due by December 1st.

Dear NYOC Alumni and Friends,

The National Youth Orchestra of Canada is pleased to announce the appointment of the Super Nova String Quartet as Resident Chamber Music Faculty for the summer of 2009. The SuperNova quartet features an all-star roster of world-class Canadian talent: Jonathan Crow (violin), Mark Fewer (violin), Douglas McNabney (viola) and Denise Djokic (cello).

NYOC orchestral string students who show exceptional ability and potential will have the opportunity to form student chamber ensembles and work closely with the SuperNova Quartet in coachings, masterclasses and concerts. And of course, the SuperNova Quartet will participate in our outstanding Faculty Concert Series. We are very excited to announce this significant expansion of our summer training experience.

Applications for the NYOC are currently being accepted through our website. The deadline is December 1st, 2008; application fees raise from $50 to $75 on November 15th. To submit your application, or to read more about the NYOC and the SuperNova Quartet, visit http://www.nyoc.org.

Student expectations of grades

Here is an article recently pubished in the National Post about changing expectations from students with respect to grading. We increasingly live in a world where success is thought of as an automatic expectation regardless of ability or talent.

Entitled students expect better grades - National Post Nov. 10 2009

Recent Articles on Education

A couple of interesting articles on education have appeared in the past few weeks.

The first from Science Daily indicates that children learn from mistakes only after about the age of 12 years. 8 year olds learn best from positive reinforcement and don't respond to negative reinforcment while by age 12 this tends to reverse itself.

Learning from mistakes only works after age 12 study suggests - from Science Daily

The second is an article from the Globe and Mail about self-esteem. Basically if you want to build self esteem in your kids, tell them how ordinary they are. A growing body of research suggests that praising kids for their talent and intelligence doesn't help them achieve success - it sets them up for disappointment.

Want to build your child's esteem? - from the Globe and Mail, Oct. 28, 2008

Welcome

Welcome to our brand new blog forum for BC Community Music Schools. Hopefully this will become an information source for finding out what is happening at your local music school. Also I hope that this blog can become a forum for discussion about topics pertaining to music and arts education in Canada and the World. I am a firm believer that through sharing and working together that we can achieve great things in our world today. I believe new technologies and forms of communication like this blog can help bring us together to collaborate in ways never before possible.

Welcome to the Music Schools BC Blog.