What: Pizazz and All That Jazz
When: Thursday, June 2, 6 p.m.
Where: Jim Pattison Toyota, 3050 Douglas St.
Tickets: $150 at TicketFly.com or the Victoria Conservatory of Music, 900 Johnson St.
Information: 250-386-5311
Some notable Canadians have cut their teeth at music and performing-arts schools in Victoria. With help from a star-studded fundraiser set for Thursday, that number is expected to grow in the years to come.
Pizazz and All That Jazz, set for Thursday at the Jim Pattison Toyota showroom on Douglas Street, is a three-hour gala designed to support youth programs at the Victoria Conservatory of Music and the Canadian College of Performing Arts. Pizazz and All That Jazz is the first partnership between the two schools, which are responsible for training hundreds of students in a variety of faculties each year. Funds raised will be used to establish scholarships and bursaries at each organization, which have been offering programs for a combined 70 years.
Famous alumni of the two performing-arts organizations include opera singer Richard Margison, pop star Carly Rae Jepsen and violin-playing brothers Nikki and Timothy Chooi.
Event co-chair Mel Cooper has worked extensively with both VCM and CCPA. On behalf of the Telus Victoria Community Board, he will be making a sizable donation to both schools at the gala.
“We’re helping young people who can’t afford, because of the parental situation or the money situation, to have a professional education in music,” he said.
The evening will include performances from tenor Ken Lavigne, a conservatory alumnus, and singer-pianist Michael Kaeshammer. Student performers from each school, along with a live auction, are also on the program.
New developments at the VCM — from its new school of contemporary music to a recently-opened satellite location in Langford — are part of a bigger plan to reinvest in Greater Victoria’s future. “We both have so many programs that are accessible to so many young people,” said Jane Butler McGregor, chief executive officer of the conservatory. “That this event is going to improve that is just terrific.”
