music education

Anglican parish program brings cello lessons to community

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

St. Michael’s Anglican Church in Sillery is starting the new school year on a bright note with a new program offering free, bilingual after-school cello lessons.

“The way we do things at St. Michael’s is we work with the gifts of people who are part of our community, and one of those people is Tomohisa Toriumi, who is a cellist with the Orchestre symphonique de Québec and a cello teacher,” said Rev. Jeffrey Metcalfe, the parish priest of St. Michaels, who is also the canon theologian of the Anglican Diocese of Quebec.

Metcalfe is an amateur cel- list who has been taking lessons from Toriumi for several years. “My son, who was three [when I started playing], said ‘I want to play too,’ and we weren’t going to buy him a $1,200 instrument,” Metcalfe recalled. He himself wanted to learn cello as a child but was discouraged from it by a music teacher, not picking up the instrument until his wife bought him one years later.

“[Toriumi] and I were talk- ing about how it can be difficult to start cello, how it’s expensive and how it’s a high bar … he said he would get some cellos and see if anyone is interested in learning.” With a few loaner cellos and a willing volunteer teacher in Toriumi, Les Anges Cordistes – the working title of the cello program – was born.

Metcalfe said he and Toriumi planned to start slowly, with brief weekly after-school gatherings to learn the basics, and then potentially move for- ward with more involved projects, such as a performance ensemble.

Metcalfe said he has gotten expressions of interest from children as young as seven and from adults. He hopes the program will help build community, foster intergenerational learning and engage children and young adults with classical music.

“A few generations ago, if you wanted to listen to music, you got together with your friends and you played or sang,” he said. “There are still some people who do that in Quebec City, but it isn’t the norm. It’s important to find ways of engaging young people in music. By starting younger, kids develop a sense of ‘I can do this!’”

Metcalfe, who cofounded the Anglican diocese’s Chapeau Vert ethical technology education program two years ago, said he sees Les Anges Cordistes as continuing in a long Anglican tradition of sup- porting the arts and as bringing more people in contact with the church community, with the “beautiful space” of St. Michael’s Church and with music as a potentially spiritual practice. “The cello is such a resonant instrument, and people say it has a range similar to the human voice. It’s important for people to find space for practices that bring them joy,” he added. However, he emphasized that participants in the music program didn’t need to be Anglican parishioners or to have anything to do with the church community. “This is for everyone.”

To join, support or learn more about Les Anges Cordistes, contact Rev. Jeffrey Metcalfe directly at jmetcalfe@quebec.anglican.ca.