A newsletter for the VCM community - Spring/Summer 2012
Winifred Jean Scott Wood 1924 – 2012
“I think teaching music, particularly piano, is heaven. You can bring out so much in people that they don’t realize they have.” Winifred Scott Wood It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to a very special member of our VCM family, Mrs. Winifred Scott Wood. We will forever remember Mrs. Wood’s passion for teaching, her endless encouragement to all of her students, and her witty humour.
In this issue… Eric Charman Birthday Gala Page 3 VCM events roundup Pages 4 & 5 Dean search update Page 5 A Fish Festival story Page 7 Round of Applause Page 7 & 8
Born into a large musical family in Winnipeg, Winifred never imagined a life without music. When she finished high school, she began to work towards building a career in music. She auditioned for Juilliard in New York and was accepted, but was told that she would need to wait until the next intake of students. In the meantime, word came that she had been awarded a scholarship to the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London. She met her future husband – a young man from Victoria named Robin Wood – on the boat going over to London. Robin had also won a scholarship to the Royal Academy to study piano. Together they would begin a magical journey with music that would last both of their lifetimes. From Mrs. Wood’s memoirs: “… In 1964 a long-distance call came from Victoria, BC. The call was from Gertrude Huntly Green, one of Canada’s first world-known concert pianists, and one of the Conservatory’s far-seeing founders. She invited my husband back to Victoria to act as principal of the fledging School of Music. As fate would have it, this all coincided with another invitation. The Royal Academy, where we were both teaching, asked Robin to become Warden, a prestigious post similar to vice-principal. What a dilemma! After much thought, the lure of helping to build a Conservatory persuaded us to return with our two young children to our native land. We agreed to leave our flourishing careers and the excitement of London life, but only for the trial period of our two years’ leave of absence.” Continued on page 2
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