Place des Arts students benefit from endowment
Brontë Wagar, a 14-year-old cello student at Place des Arts, recently won the silver medal for Grade 10 cello at the Royal Conservatory of Music exams. She's one of many Place students who have benefitted from the scholarship and bursary program, which is supported by the Endowment Fund.
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Updated: November 09, 2009 4:18 PM
Becoming an accomplished musician takes a lot of things — talent and hard work, mainly, but also the guidance of skilled teachers, the right tools and, sometimes, a helping hand.
Brontë Wagar, a 14-year-old cellist and Place des Arts student, has all of those.
Wagar is a member of the Vancouver Youth Orchestra and the Place des Arts String Quartet, plays in the New Westminster Secondary High School band and studies piano. She studies the cello for hours each week, attends weekly theory classes and practices, practices, practices.
It all paid off when she was named the 2009 recipient of Place des Arts' Scholarship for Advanced Musical Studies and was clearly evident when she won the silver medal for achieving top marks in B.C. for Grade 10 cello at the recent Royal Conservatory of Music exams.
She's not the only Place des Arts student who shone at the RCM and Conservatory Canada exams, though. Also honoured were Katya Bessarabov for Grade 1 piano, Katie Voravong for Grade 2 piano, Matthew Yep for Grade 3 piano, Winnie Zhuang for Grade 5 piano, Chi Cheuk Yung for Grade 7 piano and Theory 5, Iris Hung for Grade 8 piano and Theory 5 and Barry Tan for Theory 7.
Place des Arts is highlighting their achievements to draw attention to the facility's recently established endowment fund, which supports the scholarship and bursary award program.
The awards are given to students in music, dance, drama and visual art to help offset the cost of study, which, at advanced levels, can be extremely high, and helps families manage in difficult economic times to allow students to realize their artistic potential.
So far nearly $83,900 ($25,000 of it from the Coquiltam-Maillardville Heritage Trust) has been raised toward the endowment fund's goal of $100,000 by 2011.
Place des Arts is actively fundraising for the endowment, which is held by the Vancouver Foundation. Volunteers with a strong commitment to the arts (expertise and connections are also welcome) are needed for a new fundraising committee to help Place des Arts reach its endowment goal.
The next meeting is Nov. 18, from 7 to 8 p.m. at Place des Arts. For more information contact Alvina Lam at 604-664-1636 or alam@placedesarts.ca.
