AMY SMART
Times Colonist
The Victoria Conservatory of Music, a longtime incubator for local classical and jazz musicians, is moving into the world of popular music.
The conservatory named roots musician Daniel Lapp as artistic director of the new School of Contemporary Music on Friday. The school will offer classes in areas such as rock, folk and indie — as well as training in stage presence, social media promotion and recording a demo.
Lapp likened it to a trade school.
“You come and learn the business and you get kicked in the butt a bit about what it’s going to take to survive as a musician out there,” he said.
That means developing your ear, becoming proficient on your instrument, as well as learning how to approach your music as a business in order to survive.
“I learned those things the hard way. And everyone will. But two years could help a bit, save a lot of headaches in the future,” Lapp said.
Conservatory CEO Jane Butler McGregor called it a “very, very unique move for a conservatory of music.”
“It’s not been done elsewhere in Canada,” she said.
But she saw it as an opportunity to attract students who wouldn’t otherwise apply to the school, as well as to offer programming to classical students wishing to move into the contemporary genres and vice versa.
“Music is music. And people have the right to experience it in any form that’s meaningful to them,” Butler McGregor said.
Dean Stephen Green said the school will have to take a more flexible approach to teaching, since many rock, folk and other musicians are self-taught.
“We needed someone who knows that and understands that,” Green said of selecting Lapp for the job.
Lapp said he learned music through a mix of formal and informal training. He grew up playing music by ear with his family, but also studied trumpet at the University of Victoria and jazz at Humber College in Ontario.
Those formal skills have come in handy, he said, even though his career moved into rock and roots. Being able to read and communicate music meant he occasionally acted as a translator for other musicians when on tour with Rickie Lee Jones, whom he called “musically illiterate, but a genius.”
Lapp has also taught music in Victoria for about 20 years, including starting his own school, the House of Music.
“They saw an opportunity and I think a way for the school to move forward into a new era,” he said.
“I was excited they felt I was a good fit.”
The announcement came along with several others marking a new era for the conservatory as it celebrates its 50th year. The new School of Music Technology and Creativity will offer new ways to learn theory and composition, such as digital notation, introductions to software instruments and mixing and editing techniques.
A distance learning option means the conservatory will be able to reach students beyond Victoria, as well as connect local students with teachers abroad, such as composer Walter Prossnitz, who lives in Zurich.
The conservatory is also close to nailing down a lease for its new satellite location in Langford, expected to open in 2016. The Langford location will offer musical training in traditional areas such as classical music, as well as the new contemporary areas, depending on demand.
“That’s what we’re there for, to meet their needs,” Green said.
To support the new initiatives, as well as children’s education and outreach programs and building upgrades, the school is campaigning to raise $2 million over 18 months. It has reached $670,000.