To those who have an inkling for historic architecture, the house that sits up on East Hill’s 32nd Avenue is known for its impressive Tuscan pillars, balustraded conservatory, and Palladian windows.
However, to the hundreds of musicians that have walked through its doors, it’s known simply as home.
And that’s why they’re doing everything they can to save their building in the best way they know how, through music.
On Saturday, the Vernon Community Music School is holding a fundraiser for the school’s Sound Foundation Capital Campaign, at Trinity United Church.
The VCMS’ home, the 1908 Smith House, is in need of major building repairs, including a new foundation, and the concert is one of the ways the school’s students and faculty are helping to raise awareness and some money for the cause.
New faculty member Tom Stinson, who teaches guitar, says he felt the sense of community as soon as stepped inside the historic building.
“There’s this atmosphere, a certain feeling the school has,” said the native of Fenelon Falls, Ont. “Since moving out west, it’s the first space and building that really reminds me of the (Royal) Conservatory of Toronto with music coming out at you from all over the place.”
“Apart from it being one of the most recognized heritage buildings in the Okanagan, it’s also the cornerstone, a hub, of the music community,” added Geoff Barker, who has taught piano and theory at the school for the past three years.
For the VCMS’ 23 faculty members, the concert is a way for them to showcase the talents of their students.
“Our students can start from Kindermusik and move up to new programs such as voice, piano, guitar… It’s a platform for them to go to university and even pursue music degrees,” said Jennifer Martselos, who is in her second year of teaching Kindermusik at the school.
Music will ring out as soon as people enter Trinity United, with students busking in the lobby before the concert starts and during intermission.
“It’s good for the community to get an idea of the school, and see the range of students we have on voice, and all kinds of instruments,” said vocal instructor Kim van Wensem, who has taught at the VCMS for six years. “It’s going to be fun. There will be lots of energy and everyone is excited to showcase what the school is about.”
To bring more perspective to the Smith House’s heritage, the concert will open with a historic retrospective.
Built in the Dutch colonial revival style by R.B. Bell, the Smith House was first lived in by mill owner S.C. Smith and his family before serving as a nun’s residency. It also served as one of the headquarters for the B.C. Summer Games in 1982, the same year the music school moved into the building.
Students will perform Vangelis’ Chariots of Fire to mark the games, while musical theatre students, led by instructor Charity Van Gameren, will perform the nun’s chant from The Sound of Music, before breaking out into Joyful Joyful from Sister Act 2. They will also perform some of the numbers from their upcoming production of Thoroughly Modern Millie, which is set in the 1920s.
The second half of the show will showcase the students in a mix of performances, including Martselos and fellow Kindermusik instructor Pat Metcalfe’s pre-schoolers, van Wensem’s Let’s Sing program, featuring three ages groups of budding singers, the Carriage House Orchestra, led by longtime violin instructor Bev Martens and cello teacher Morna Howie, Margaret Burton’s flute choir, Neil Fraser’s jazz guitar group, and an eclectic mix of piano performances featuring beginner to advanced players.
Stinson will lead his guitar students in a version of Twinkle Twinkle that will morph into something bigger and brighter, he said.
And it will all culminate in a big finale with everyone at the end, added Barker.
Tickets for Saturday’s Sound Foundation benefit concert, which starts at 7 p.m. at Trinity United Church, are $25, available at the school, 1705-32nd Ave. Call 250-545-4977 for info.
