Our Stories
Our Performances
Performances typically last 45 minutes. They are often followed by an “instrument petting zoo” where children actually get a chance to try instruments similar to the ones used in the performance with guidance and encouragement from the performers themselves. Our 2011-12 SeasonThe Little PrinceMusic Corner commissions new works from talented local composers. For our dazzling debut season, Victoria Symphony composer in residence, Anna Hastman, has written a suite of music around this beloved story by Antoine de Saint-Exupry. Join us as we travel to distant planets and let the fox remind you why your rose is not like all the others. Composed by Anna Höstman. Next performance scheduled for Saturday, May 12 2012 3PM at Winifred & Robin Wood Recital Hall, Victoria Conservatory of Music. Peter and the WolfThe way characters are brought to life through the vibrant music of Sergei Prokofiev in this beloved work makes it easy to understand why it has been such a consistent hit among young audiences. Music Corner’s version is expertly re-orchestrated by David Clenman. Composed by David Clenman. Booking now. The Magic FluteTwo friends set out on an exciting quest to the Temple of Wisdom where they brave fire and water to rescue a princess. Children participate through movement, song, riddles and games while Music Corner performs music adapted from Mozart’s original opera. Composed by David Clenman. Booking now. Aesop's AnimalsFew works of literature have bridged more generation gaps than the clever fables of Aesop. This program includes favourites like The Hare and the Tortoise, The Fox and the Crow, and The Lion and the Mouse. For each one, Music Corner involves children directly in the story through games and riddles. Composed by David Clenman. Next performance scheduled for Wednesday, April 18 2012 10:30AM at Macaulay Elementary School. Carnival of the AnimalsOne of history’s great masterpieces of musical fun, this zoological parade by Camille Saint-Saens includes as many games and shenanigans as hairs in a lion’s mane! Can you waltz with the elephants and hop with the kangaroos? Composed by Anna Höstman. Booking now. |
Featured ComposersAnna Höstman
Anna Höstman is a Canadian composer whose works have been performed across Canada as well as in Mexico, Europe, China, and Russia. Her compositions commonly engage with language, sensory and kinesthetic memory, breakdown, photography, and architectures of variation; they explore her deep love for the natural worlds. From 2005-8, Anna was the resident composer of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra. During this time five new pieces for orchestra were premiered as well as her opera What Time is it Now? on a libretto by Governor General Award winning poet P.K. Page. Recorded and broadcast by CBC Radio Two, this one-act chamber opera explored issues of dementia as experienced by an old woman living at home with her caretaker. Aside from concert music, Anna has also been active in writing music for other media. She’s composed for the National Film Board of Canada, made orchestral arrangements for The Three Canadian Tenors, and created numerous sound designs for theatre, dance, and experimental film shorts. She is currently in the doctoral program at the University of Toronto. 
David Clenman
Composer, arranger, and educator David Clenman was born in Toronto, where he studied piano, organ, bassoon, violin, conducting, and composition. He received diplomas in piano and composition from the Royal Conservatory of Music, and the Associateship (Healey Willan Scholarship) and Choirmaster diplomas from the Royal Canadian College of Organists. His formative training in composition was with Srul Glick, with whom he studied privately for seven years. Further studies in composition followed with David Paul, Edward Laufer, and, at the University of Victoria, Christopher Butterfield and John Celona. A composer and arranger of eclectic tastes, David Clenman’s work spans the gamut from serious art music through music for youth, electronic jazz, and popular song. His arrangements of African-American spirituals, commissioned by the late Jamaican-Canadian soprano Joyce Britton, have been frequently performed, his work for double-bass ensemble has been performed by groups led by bass virtuoso Gary Karr, and the Canadian Tenors have toured with his arrangements and orchestrations. His work has been recorded by soprano Denise Williams, French-Canadian chanteur Jacques Loic-Lorioz, the vocal ensemble Sing!, and the Canadian Tenors. Since 1995, David Clenman has taught composition and theory at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, and, since 2002, has been an instructor of theory at the University of Victoria, where he was the first winner of the Gilian Sherwin Award for Excellence in Teaching. |
Every Music Corner performance begins by introducing the children to the four musicians and their instruments: trombone, clarinet, violin, and percussion. From there, a variety of activities are integrated in ways that let children interact directly with the music and participate in the storytelling.
Activities include games, simple songs for singing along, substantial performances for listening, and opportunities for dancing and moving. Some examples include riddles, number & word games, playing along on simple instruments, clapping, singing, and acting out different characters.
