Study at the University of Victoria with the members of the Lafayette String Quartet, one of Canada’s premier chamber ensembles.
Violinists Ann Elliott-Goldschmid and Sharon Stanis, violist Joanna Hood and cellist Pamela Highbaugh Aloni offer students an environment in which to share and create music. Through the Quartet’s vast individual and collective knowledge they continually engage students in critical inquiry into their own instrumental study and the music itself. The program is richly diverse combining essential individual tuition, chamber music and large ensemble with numerous other creative opportunities throughout the degree with programs such as Baroque performance practice, early strings pedagogy, improvisation, and the exploration of sound and music of our time.
The University of Victoria School of Music provides one of the most comprehensive bachelors and graduate programs offered to string players anywhere in North America. Experiential learning is front and centre to the program. String students receive a minimum of one hour private instruction every week on their principal instrument and the opportunity to engage with other members of their class in a weekly masterclass. They also receive a weekly one hour chamber music coaching. Numerous masterclasses with the LSQ and visiting guest artists provide additional learning and performance opportunities for students both as individuals and with their chamber music groups.
Students perform regularly in Tuesday and Friday Music noon-time recitals. They may enter the annual Bach competition, the Concerto Competition, the Strauss Competition, or any number of other performance and study opportunities in the area. Undergraduate students have access to a travel grant for concerts, festivals and competitions and graduate students are eligible to apply for many scholarships through Canadian university granting agencies.
Situated in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, surrounded by beaches, trees, flowers, wildlife, and blessed with a temperate weather system, the University of Victoria campus is a welcoming environment in every way. Victoria is a vibrant and supportive artistic city offering a wide variety of inspiration for all interests.
There are a limited number of studio spaces available every year. Interested students and teachers are strongly encouraged to contact the members of the Quartet in the early fall of the students’ graduation year to arrange a complimentary consultation/lesson and discuss the many options that a music degree at UVIC offers.
Recent UVIC graduates have been accepted into the graduate performance programs at the Manhattan School and Juilliard Schools in New York, the University of Michigan, the Royal Academy in London, the Eastman School in Rochester, NY, Rice University in Texas, the University of Toronto, the Glen Gould School, McGill University, and the San Francisco Conservatory.
Some visiting guest artists include:
Violinists: Axel Strauss, Kati Debretzeni, Gwen Thompson, James Ehnes, Charles Castleman, Frank Ho, David Stewart, Kerry DuWors (UVIC grad), Krista Bennion Feeney, Cecilia Poellein, Yosuke Kawasaki, Clayton Leung (UVIC grad), Chloe Meyers
Violists: Yariv Aloni, Gerald Stanick, Melia Watras, Atar Arad, James Dunham, Daniel Scholz, Kay Cochran
Cellists: Paul Katz, Ian Hampton, Caroline Nicolas, Christina Mahler, Rachel Mercer.
Chamber Music and Collaborative Music: Penderecki String Quartet, Cuarteto Latinoamericano, Saguenay String Quartet, Echea String Quartet (violinist Aliayta Foon-Dancoes, UVIC grad), pianist Alexander Tselyakov, Stephen Runge (UVIC grad), Andrew Dawes, New Zealand String Quartet
String Pedagogy: Mimi Zweig, Gary Karr, Susan Colonval, Michael Klazek
