Four months ago I was offered a rare opportunity to use office space in the heart of downtown Victoria for one year. For the past 10 years, I have been teaching mostly individual piano and guitar lessons, and my capacity as a youth music educator, musician, and conductor has been limited to the confinements of one small room in my rental apartment and church rental spaces.
Access to a large enough space is a bit of a dream come true, allowing me to finally be able to organize and host various educational and performance events for all ages in the Victoria community.
After a few months of unexpected setbacks, the space is finally insured and ready for use. Although officially a small business, a lot of my activity in the music education field has happened to be non-profit. Thus, due to certain financial limitations, I ask for your help with gathering some essential equipment for my new projects.
Right now the space already has an upright piano, a digital piano, 10 folding chairs, a small folding table, and a whiteboard. Below you can see a beautiful Willis piano that the wonderful gentlemen in the picture helped me move a couple of days ago.
Here are a few of the projects that I am preparing to run this year by myself and with my enthusiastic colleagues:
Suzuki Guitar Group (primary goal)
A children’s guitar ensemble
Alexander Technique
Music Theory
Music Therapy
Art workshops
Masterclasses, talks and workshops with local and visiting artists
Hosting chamber concerts involving students and professional performers
Here are the items & services I need help acquiring for now:
A floor mat/rug for kids
Chairs including low chairs for young kids
Tables/desks
An office chair
Waiting room couch and chairs
Stationery and art supplies
Minor repair & maintenance
Helpful extra: projector and a portable projector screen
Also appreciated help with:
Student bursary fund, to make lessons accessible for low-income families.
I started this donation-based fund in September 2022, and it’s already helped 4 students!
Guest artist/educator fund, to be able to provide fair compensation to hired professionals while keeping their valuable services reasonably priced for the students. An example of such a service would be a small concert (the space will seat about 30 people) or a workshop with a visiting educator/performer, where travel fees may be involved.
Perhaps you or someone you know would like to donate an item on the list. Any help would be much appreciated!
For those of you who don’t know me and get this through friends, I solemnly declare that any donation you make will be used solely for the indicated purpose, or if unused, will be returned to you.
If you have any further questions, please message me, and I will be happy to connect.
With gratitude,
Natasha Pashchenko
Private Music Instructor
Nanaimo Conservatory of Music
VGS Community Ensemble Director
& Classical Guitar Ambassador
Organizer
Nataliya Pashchenko
Organizer
Victoria, BC