The Canadian Music Centre in BC Expands with Opening of First Branch on Vancouver Island

New Victoria Creative Hub will host unique pedagogical library of Canadian music, offering free instructional resources and workshops

The Canadian Music Centre in British Columbia (CMC BC) announces the launch of its first-ever Vancouver Island branch, the Victoria Creative Hub, part of an exciting new partnership with the Victoria Conservatory of Music (VCM) at VCM’s library (920 Johnson Street). Set to open to the public August 9, 2016, the Victoria Creative Hub will host a specially curated library of musical scores & pedagogical materials, and offer workshops showcasing the ever-evolving world of Canadian musical creation. The CMC’s Associate Composer Christopher Reiche will manage the Victoria Creative Hub on site as Outreach Coordinator.

“We are thrilled to partner with the Victoria Conservatory of Music in extending CMC BC’s performance, educational, and promotional services to Victoria. British Columbia is currently the only province in which the CMC has expanded its offering to two locations, a testament to BC’s historically strong support for Canadian composition,” enthused Sean Bickerton, recently appointed Director of CMC BC. “From the Victoria Symphony Orchestra and Oak Bay New Music Festival, to the internationally-renowned performance series A Place to Listen, Victoria is a lively microcosm of contemporary music, which the CMC will be better able to nurture and serve with the opening of our new home in August.”

The Victoria Creative Hub will provide free access to a lending library of more than 200 Canadian scores primarily of student repertoire and works by Vancouver Island composers, coupled with a wealth of learning materials for teaching composition to students of all ages. Within Greater Victoria schools, the Victoria Creative Hub will also re-launch the CMC’s signature Composer in the Classroom program, an outreach initiative sparking student passion for music composition.

Other offerings of the Victoria Creative Hub will include CD launches of releases by the CMC’s Juno-nominated label CentreDiscs, in addition to score-reading workshops, lectures and related courses. CMC BC’s newest branch will also help serve the community’s score printing and binding needs as a local provider of these highly specialized services.

Victoria boasts a thriving and richly diverse contemporary music community. Local enthusiasm for Canadian music is widely linked to the late composer Murray Adaskin, who penned more than half his catalogue of works during his retirement in the community. The University of Victoria’s (UVic) powerhouse composition department is also credited for Victoria’s vibrant new music scene, dating back to the 1970’s tenures of late English composer Martin Bartlett, who served as Music Professor, and Czech-born composer Rudolf Komorous, formerly UVic’s Department of Music Chair and subsequent Director. These educators fostered an avant-garde movement, which produced many respected Canadian composers such as Christopher Butterfield, David McIntyre, Linda Catlin Smith, Martin Arnold, Owen Underhill, and Rodney Sharman, among others.

Today, the creative legacy of Adaskin, Bartlett and Komorous flourishes in Victoria through an impressive group of acclaimed composers. A few of these talents include Christopher Reiche, whose music is regularly performed in Victoria and Vancouver, and Daniel Brandes, founder of A Place to Listen, and an internationally recognized devotee of the global Wandelweiser collective (a group of minimalist composers). Victoria is also a home to Jared Miller, celebrated Composer-in-Residence with the Victoria Symphony Orchestra who studied with Oscar and Pulitzer-winning composer John Corigliano.

As of August 9, the Victoria Creative Hub will be open Mondays & Fridays from 1pm – 5pm, and Wednesdays from 12pm – 4pm.

About the Canadian Music Centre (musiccentre.ca)

The Canadian Music Centre (CMC) connects you to the ever-evolving world of Canadian musical creation through performance, education, and promotion. The CMC provides unique resources for exploring, discovering, and performing Canadian music. We are passionate about nurturing a musical community that honours our legacy and supports the professional development of Canadian musicians and composers. The CMC inspires fresh perspectives, celebrates inventive composers, and provides transformative musical and educational experiences. We champion artistic diversity and embrace Canada’s rich cultural heritage in creative centres across the country and internationally.

About the Canadian Music Centre in BC

Based in downtown Vancouver, the Canadian Music Centre in BC (CMC BC) is a presenter of concerts exploring the rich musical heritage of this province. CMC BC also offers a free circulating library, films & documentary screenings, lectures and workshops, and provides many other vital services to the musical and artistic community of BC. The Vancouver Creative Hub and Victoria Creative Hub are both virtual, and real-life initiatives that help CMC BC expand its role as an active member of the arts community by offering a platform for collaboration, engagement and exploration of Canadian contemporary music. Through outreach, workshops, performances, festivals and more, CMC BC is committed to making its Canadian music collections and services more accessible to everyone in the province.