Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Victoria Conservatory of Music Summer Academy

Jade:

The practice rooms are open when the McLauren Building is open: 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. (roughly) daily, including weekends. You are free to use the practice rooms during those times. The Boston uprights are wearing because of heavy use during the academic year, and, like all practice room uprights everywhere, funds for serious maintenance are not always available so some are better/worse than others. You'll soon find which ones you can work with.

While I haven't made it widely public on this site, I did mention in a post somewhere (in this thread?) that I will be hosting the out-of-towners on Sunday, 10 July in my home for an afternoon of music, some refreshments and then dinner at a nearby restaurant. Traditionally (if the third year in a row can be considered a tradition) this has been done to give those from out of town who may be at loose ends and without transportation something to do that can be fun and can help further social contacts with other adults in the program. The weekend is otherwise pretty dull for those staying on campus.

That said, Victoria is a particularly beautiful city and some may want to explore. Public transportation from the campus to downtown is quite good if less frequent on weekends.

Early in the first week, I'll make sure that those interested get directions and that transportation to my home will be available.

Don't hesitate to ask any other questions as they come to you; I'll be happy to answer any and all that I can.

Regards,

I'm going to have to disagree with you Bruce. Your Sunday get-together is anything but a time filler. It is actually one of the the most fun parts of the two weeks and I look forward to it. I didn't want to presume your hospitality Bruce, so I am very pleased you want to call it a tradition!

Yes, it's anything but a time killer and is always a highlight! And thank you again for hosting.

Thanks so much for hosting this gathering and for all the other hospitality that you and the other VCM "veterans" have extended to those of us who are newbies. Really looking forward to this experience!

One more work day and a couple of more until the trip across the straight!

Who is ready for this?!!

I AM READY!

Nous sommes prêts!

8:30 a.m. daily Masterclass in the Philip T. Young! (Yikes! I'm not ready!). Anyone else?

Regards,

6:30 am departure Sunday means leaving for LAX circa 3 am. How can I ever be ready for that??? 💤😔💤🎹

Thanks so much to everyone involved in the program -- students, faculty, staff, and U Vic hosts. I had a wonderful time and hope to attend again.

Special thanks to BruceD: Fine pianist, great host, gentleman and scholar!

ClsscLib:

I'm glad to read that your reactions to your experience are positive. I know that certain administrative "niceties" and courtesies might be lacking, and two of us have been working with the director for improvements, but to date we have yet to see any results from our suggestions.

However, as you know, many keep coming back year after year, primarily for the outstanding teaching, and Victoria is not a bad place to have to spend a couple of weeks in the summer.

I hope you are enjoying being back in a "warm" climate, again!

Best regards,

Yes, indeed.

It's good to be back home but, alas, I can't practice because someone is still sleeping, (something that wasn't a problem with an entire building devoted to music!). I'm counting the days until next summer!

Indeed. Thank you again Bruce! I enjoyed your presentations of the song transcriptions.

Back to work for me ... alas and alack. There must be a way to stretch two weeks into a lifetime.

Hi everyone! I never visited back to this forum. I was kind of frightened away by the requirements to bring to the camp and decided maybe I needed another year to polish before I attended.

I know a couple of you mentioned this previously, but would you still recommend going to the Victoria Academy for the Piano Camp? I also saw a Piano Camp (Summerkeys) in Maine. Which one would you rather?

I've heard nice things about Summerkeys but I've never been there. The Victoria Academy does not have requirements and I've loved it every time I've gone.

I thought I read that you had to have two pieces or something like that?

One of the main components of the Summer Piano Academy is the daily master class. The size of the master classes is such that each student usually gets to perform for fifteen to twenty minutes once every other day. Because one comes to a master class to get direction, interpretive suggestions and (sometimes) technical advice on performance, there would be little point to enrolling in the program if one had nothing that was near performance-ready.

There is no set number of pieces to bring to a master class, nor is there even a repertoire requirement imposed on students. However, one wouldn't come to a Piano Academy of any kind, I would think, without some work(s) more or less ready for performance and critique.

Regards,

Thanks, I definitely hope to be there this year. I always get anxious when it's time to play in front of people.

Another advantage to the master classes at the Summer Piano Academy is the size: six to seven students, one teacher and no public auditors. Within a day or two, each student in the master class gets to know and begins to feel comfortable (in my long-term attendance at this Academy) with the social element that develops, and so playing for each other becomes less and less of a chore. The atmosphere is always supportive and encouraging.

Regards,

This sounds like a fine way to craft the often-problematic structure of master class teaching. Are there multiple groups taking place at the same time, Bruce? (Because I thought there were several dozen participants in this program.)