Music program brings imagination to life
“This project truly has done infinitely more than we could have asked or imagined,” says the Rev. Canon Jeffrey Metcalfe, Canon Theologian for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec, and member of the St. Lawrence Valley Anglican Ministry, a united federation of Anglican communities located along the St. Lawrence River in Quebec.
This past spring Metcalfe joined forces with the Anglican Foundation of Canada’s (AFC) Say Yes to Kids campaign to raise funds for Les Anges Cordistes, a unique program that is fostering musical accessibility and education in Quebec City.
“For several years, we had been imagining ways of helping to make music, and especially, cello, more accessible,” says Metcalfe. “The decline in church attendance among young people mirrors the decline in learning instruments.” In the case of the latter, observes Metcalfe, “the reasons are not simply financial, but certainly the cost of buying or renting an instrument like a cello can be prohibitive for many.”
Metcalfe’s vision for Les Anges Cordistes is that the program would provide community leadership as a conduit for cultural enrichment but also the personal development that inevitably accompanies the process of learning to play an instrument. “One of the beautiful aspects of our heritage as Anglicans is that we are patrons of the arts. We are, in a small way, living into that heritage in Quebec City, as we help young children and even adults to take up the gift of music, building bridges between the community and the churches through the arts.”
Metcalfe, who describes himself as an “amateur cellist,” provides teaching support and assistance to the program’s professional cellist, Tomohisa Toriumi. “I remember being so nervous our first Monday night, not knowing if anyone would show up,” recalls Metcalfe, “but sure enough, we had three kids and one adult. Then the next Monday, we had four kids and two adults, and now we are up to seven kids and two adults. Suffice to say, our cup hath overfloweth, and we have had to purchase some extras outside our budget and set up a system to share instruments between participants to ensure everyone has access.”
A highlight of the program’s impact has come from parent feedback. Metcalfe describes one mother sharing her joy in listening to her child play. “She told me that this was the first time her child had ever stepped inside a church, and that she was amazed that his first experience would be of how welcoming it was, and how much fun the space could be for children. I was so grateful that this would be one child’s first impression of our community and its space.”
Metcalfe says one of the program’s biggest challenges is stocking enough instruments, of the appropriate size, to suit the children who are attending. “Cellos are not one-size-fits-all,” explains Metcalfe, “and a child’s measurements need to be taken into account. Most cellos for students range between 1/8 (mini cello), 1/4, and 1/2.”
Canon Metcalfe says all the members of the St. Lawrence Valley Anglican Ministry are grateful for the support and encouragement Les Anges Cordistes has received through the 2024 SYTK campaign which “helped to turn our imagination into a reality—providing both the instruments and the instruction, in the words of the Prophet Isaiah ‘without money and without price.’”
