Western Conservatory of Music

Ethan is a student at the Western Conservatory of Music studying with Mr. Richard Haack. This year, at the VAYA International Music Festival, he received a medal of outstanding performance in the Canadian Composers division. Ethan performed Boris Berlin's Merry-Go-Round. Congratulations!

Well, it's the end of the academic year, and our last field trip was on Sunday June 1, at the Orpheum hearing Bruce Liu playing the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3.

We had over thirty students and parents attend, what an exciting time hearing our Canadian winner of the Chopin Competition!

We ended with the annual awards recital at which I was able to present medals to students that won at the VAYA Music Festival this year including Junior and Senior piano concertos as well as Outstanding performance medals.

We're looking forward to next years many cultural events including the Variations on a Theme of Paganini with the VSO and Joyce Yang and Vancouver Opera's production of La Bohème by Puccini.

Wishing you all a great summer holiday! See you in the Fall.

What a way to end 2024!

Congratulations to Mr. Haack's piano students Catherine Wong and Julian Salvador. Catherine received the gold medal for the highest mark in British Columbia and the Yukon for her Level 10 Royal Conservatory piano examination. Julian received the gold medal for the highest mark in British Columbia and the Yukon for his Level 9 Royal Conservatory piano examination. They were both recognised at the Royal Conservatory of Music 2024 Celebration of Excellence at the Vancouver Academy of Music earlier this year. In all my years of teaching, I have never taken the top 2 level 9 and 10 medals for the province in the same year. I have had medalists in previous years, but never two. I must still be ticking!

Happy New Year to everyone. Check us out for 2025!

Wrapping it up for 2024!

The school's final fieldtrip was a concert to the Chopin Society's recital at the Vancouver Playhouse. Pianist Vadym Kholodenko, a gold medalist at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, gave a dazzling performance. The school had over 20 students attending, and I think the highlights for them were the Beethoven Opus 31 and the Chopin Sonata #3. Next year we have already got Madame Butterfly scheduled at the opera. We will keep you posted with more news!