With 2023 wrapping up, we wanted to applaud the exceptional students who have attained a grade of 80% or higher for their exams this year. Congratulations!    PIANO Grade 1 Liyana Joomratty | 88 Ethan (Lin Chen) Lyu | 82 Diana Osagie | 90 Aran Djavid Lloyd Ajar | 86 Arad Abbaspour | 80 Elisabeth Freiman | 84 Cassidy Quan | 90 Michael Kutcher | 90 Alexandra Tarahomi | 86 Grade 2 Mattyn Boostani | 91 Kevin Boudjok | 84 Ileana Mota | 83 Ethan Lyu | 88 Micah Pollak | 80 Grade 3 Jenna Dong | 91 Alexia Nguyen | 80 Damian Nguyen | 82 Sonni Farjampour | 88 Medwin Gau | 83 Patil Youssef | 80 ..read more

6 Must Do's For 100% On Scales, Chords, & Arpeggios   Examiner and adjudicator, Raul Velasco, discusses 6 elements that every candidate must master for their scales, chords, and arpeggios to obtain a perfect mark on an exam.    Accuracy & Confidence In the Notes Not only do all the notes need to be correct, you must be confident in knowing which notes to play without hesitating, starting over or having to figure out which notes need to be played next. Evenness in Rhythm There needs to be a very steady pulse underlying the scale, chord, or arpeggio without overtly markin ..read more

Music Festival 2023 Trophy Winners Congratulations to the Music Festival 2023 trophy winners on their outstanding performances! To celebrate, we’ve put together a gallery showcasing this year’s Music Festival trophy winners. LYLA SHUMWAY Piano | Preliminary (Group 1), Highest Mark AMIRALI GHAFARPOUR Piano | Preliminary (Group 2), Highest Mark HUANSHUO LI Piano | Grade 1, Highest Average Mark SPENCER HO Piano | Grade 2, Highest Average Mark KYLER CHEN Piano | Grade 3, Highest Average Mark CHLOE WANG Piano | Grade 4, Highest Average Mark MATTHEW JIANG Piano | Grade 5, Highest Average Mar ..read more

A Story About Lessons For 12 years, Karni has come to the British Columbia Conservatory of Music. She has walked into the same studio, every Tuesday at 3:30 PM to take her weekly violin lesson with the same teacher, Linda Musaraj. Karni started learning the violin when she was four years old. “I remember in the first lesson I wasn’t strong enough to hold the violin. Linda told me I could hold it by the close part of the violin and not the actual finger board…it was the heaviest thing in the world!” Karni says. Linda adds that, “It was quite a struggle because she couldn’t hold it for long. So ..read more

2019 Honour Roll Check and see if you are on the 2019 Honour Roll! The Honour Roll is eligible to all students at the British Columbia Conservatory of Music that have achieved a mark of 80% or higher for their Winter, Spring, and/or Summer exams this year. Congratulations to all the students that made it onto the Honour Roll this year! Keep up the good work!   other blog posts ..read more

5 Habits All Performers Must Develop & 4 To Avoid   Krystyna Tucka talks about 5 habits all performers must develop and 4 habits to avoid in order to become a better musician.    Detailed Specific Practice How can you practice most efficiently? By planning your practice sessions, targeting specific areas of the music, and focusing on a certain skill or technique. Practicing for five minutes with a goal in mind will be more effective than sitting for extended amounts of time with no clear purpose. Think about your results per minute and be specific when choosing your area of ..read more

4 Things that Separate Great Performers from Good Performers   There are good performances and there are great performances. You can enjoy a good performance, but a great performance will draw you in and connect you to the music. It all comes down to the performer themselves. We sat with experienced performer and adjudicator, Krystyna Tucka and she spoke about what exactly makes a great performance so great!    Communicate Through the Music Great performers communicate through the music. Every score has it’s own character and when a performer communicates the character of the p ..read more

Music Festival 2022 Trophy Winners Congratulations to the Music Festival 2022 trophy winners on their extraordinary accomplishments! Jaden Wang Piano | Preliminary, Highest Mark Chloe Wang Piano | Grade 1, Highest Average Mark ZhenDong Wang Piano | Grade 2, Highest Average Mark Leo Li Piano | Grade 3, Highest Average Mark Matthew Jiang Piano | Grade 4, Highest Average Mark Oliver Hoey Piano | Grade 5, Highest Average Mark Kian Salahshour Piano | Grade 6, Highest Average Mark Jasmine Si Lau Piano | Grade 7, Highest Average Mark Jhilian Yan-Klassen Piano | Grade 8, Highest Average Mark ..read more

3, 2, 1! Countdown Timeline to Your Performance (Part 2)   There’s nothing worse than stepping onto a stage feeling unprepared for your performance. Here’s what you can do in the week leading up to the performance day to play at your best!     1 Week before Performance Spend some time playing through your piece as if it was the real performance. Run through your entire program — this includes everything from stepping onto the stage to bowing at the end.   This is also the perfect time to get comfortable with playing in front of a crowd; so invite your family or a ..read more

3, 2, 1! Countdown Timeline to Your Performance (Part 1)   Be it a recital or a festival, we all know that preparation for music performances begins months in advance. Here’s a suggested schedule you can use to make sure you’re on the path to a successful performance.    3 Months before Performance Depending on the music grade, choose the piece(s) you want to perform at least three months to a year before your scheduled performance. This way, you will have plenty of time to practice and polish your piece(s)!  2 Months before Performance This is your time to continue with ..read more