When Joseph Elworthy first walked through the doors of the Vancouver Academy of Music as a fouryear-old, he couldn't possibly have imagined he'd be returning to run the place more than three decades later.
"I can't say it was all part of my master plan," he says with a laugh. "I'm absolutely excited at how it all turned out."
Elworthy has just been appointed executive director of the academy - the completion of a perfect full circle.
"I still have a clear recollection of my first day walking into the school as a four-year-old," says the now-37-year-old Elworthy.
Even then, though he couldn't put a name to it, he recalls there was something special about the place.
It was, he says, "the unique positive atmosphere of a building that's consumed with the creative process."
"I think there's something quite special about the atmosphere here," he says.
Elworthy's family was living in Burnaby, but his parents thought nothing of the drive to Vancouver to enroll him in cello lessons. At the time, he notes, it was really the only music school of its kind for students in the Vancouver region and beyond - his friends came from as far afield as the Fraser Valley, Victoria, even Washington state.
"It speaks to the quality and the aims of excellence of the academy," he says.
T he music education he received at the academy stood him in good stead as a young cellist when he won the Burnaby Clef Society's annual Concerto Competition, which led to concerto performances with the CBC Orchestra and the Vancouver Opera Orchestra.
"I had so many opportunities to perform as a soloist with orchestras as a result of that competition," Elworthy says with a smile. "It's just a wonderful platform for an emerging musician to learn their trade in a safe and comfortable setting."
For Elworthy, it would be the beginning of an impressive performing career.
His professional career as a soloist, recital performer and chamber musician has taken him onto some of the world's most notable stages - the Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, Sejong Hall - and he's been heard on radio and TV around the globe. Now based back at home and raising his own family, he's been a member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra since 2002.
But Elworthy's focus, as executive director of the academy, isn't mainly on creating a new generation of professional performers.
He never wants to lose sight of the fact that the Vancouver Academy of Music is, first and foremost, a community music school.
"It's easy to go adrift," he says, and start trying to build it up as some kind of "Juilliard of the West."
Rather, he says, its focus is on reaching out into the community in as many ways as possible.
One of his missions is to get the word out that, yes, the academy's doors are wide open and it's encouraging new students.
Enrolment has gone up almost 20 per cent over the past six months, and the academy has recently added an online registration feature at its website.
There's a large scholarship and bursary program for students whose parents might not have the means to pay for lessons, and all students have a chance to take part in a wide range of "extra" programs at no extra cost - orchestras, music theory classes, master classes, chamber music ensembles and more.
"There's a strong philanthropic element to our curriculum," Elworthy says, noting that was part of the vision of the founders when talks first began to create the academy.
Working with other community groups is also key for Elworthy. The academy has partnerships with a number of organizations that use its space - the Turning Point Ensemble, the Vancouver Bach Children's Chorus, the Music in the Morning concert series - and Elworthy wants to ensure it reaches out to other groups.
"One of our short-term goals is to be a hub for the thriving amateur adult music scene in Vancouver," he says, pointing out the presence of myriad small chamber groups and large orchestras such as the Vancouver Philharmonic and the West Coast Symphony.
He's also working with Bard on the Beach to promote the development of Vanier Park as what they envision as a "unique green cultural and education centre." Next summer, the Vancouver Academy of Music will run a new educational summer program that will dovetail with Bard's Young Shakespearean program - and Elworthy and Bard's artistic director, Christopher Gaze, are meeting for what he calls "bluesky" discussions about what the future may hold.
In the shorter term, Elworthy also has his sights set on outreach into seniors' homes. Students in the academy's new Chamber Music Institute are forming ensembles that will go into care homes and perform.
"These groups will be our diplomats for the school," Elworthy says. "It's a really exciting project."
And, of course, Elworthy isn't forgetting one of the school's most important missions: to introduce music to the very young.
The academy recently started up a Brain Boosters program that combines music, math and logic in a fun learning environment for young children. Elworthy's own two daughters, aged five and six, are in the program and loving it.
His older daughter is also studying piano and viola; his younger daughter is learning violin.
"Early exposure is invaluable exposure," he says. "It's really a special time."
The academy has also just launched an Orff on the Go program where an instructor qualified in the Orff method of early music education goes out into preschools in the region that don't have music programs. Instruction, including instruments and equipment, is offered pro bono for the preschools.
"It's so important that the language of music is something that children are exposed to at an early age," Elworthy says. "We're really excited about the prospect of making a meaningful difference for these preschoolers."
A nd, of course, the academy works to keep those same students engaged as they grow into their teen years. The school's teen students come from many backgrounds, Elworthy notes, and many have other passions besides music - it's not uncommon to see them arriving in their football or basketball uniforms. When they arrive, though, they're united by their love of music.
"They can come to the academy and lay off the visages one needs to survive high school. They can come here and be themselves."
These days, Elworthy laughs about his own high school self - as a student at Burnaby's St. Thomas More Collegiate, he recalls thinking he was "too cool for school."
"I was probably the worst band student," he says with a laugh.
But the Vancouver Academy of Music was a constant presence in his young life, and when he went on to pursue his studies at Juilliard and Yale, it was something he took with him.
Elworthy knows that not all the academy's students will follow in his footsteps and make music a career. Although there will always be a percentage who go on to study music at a post-secondary level, most go on to professional success in other fields.
"It's not uncommon to find your dentist who's an academy alumnus and still plays," he laughs.
For many students, music is an important part of becoming the kind of well-rounded student that universities are looking for.
"It's no longer just about academic standards. They're looking for a complete person," he says, noting he's seen the change in the way students react to the world around them and embrace the idea of community service. "There's much more mindfulness of civic responsibility amount our students."
For Elworthy, that same sense of civic responsibility is driving him in all his efforts in his new post.
He's blessed, he says, with the chance to have experienced the Vancouver Academy of Music from all angles - as a student, as a parent, as a faculty member and now, as executive director.
He's always pleased when parents who don't know his own background say that he must have gone to the academy as a student.
"For me, that's the ultimate compliment," he says with a smile. "I hope I carry that attitude and enthusiasm and passion for the institution in everything I do."
For more about the Vancouver Academy of Music, see www.vam.bc.ca.
